Agenda and draft minutes

To approve as correct the minutes of the meeting held on 24^th January 2017

The minutes of the meeting held on 24^th January were approved as a correct record.

To receive any declarations of interest from Members of the Sub-Committee

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive any announcements from the Chairman or the Chief Executive

The Vice-Chairman announced that Aidan Thatcher, Head of Development, would be leaving the Council shortly.  Members thanked him for his work and support, and wished him well in his new role.

The Chairman of the Task and Finish Group introduced the report of the s106 funding review, which concluded that the process and procedures for the allocation and holding of s106 monies were working satisfactorily. 

Members had received details of the allocated and unallocated funds being held for both District Council and County Council contributions.  They had also reviewed the information sent to Parish and Neighbourhood Councils on a quarterly basis. 

The third recommendation in the report, regarding sending the s106 reports, sent to Parish and Neighbourhood Councils, to Ward Members too, had been implemented. 

·         The timeframe for sending these reports would be confirmed to the sub-committee by the Head of Development.

With regards to recommendations 1) and 2), regarding the funding of unparished areas and Parishes with no planned developments, it was agreed that the sub-committee would consider how these recommendations could be implemented at a future meeting.

The Head of Development confirmed that s106 contributions passed to WSCC were allocated to specific projects.

The Chairman of the Task and Finish Group thanked officers who had facilitated the review by supplying relevant information and data.

·         Terms of Reference and membership of POP

·         The criteria used for making applications to the fund

·         Operating procedure followed by officers

·         The future of POP and funding for unparished wards in the town where it is unlikely there would be any new homes in the future

The Head of Development reminded Members that the Planning Obligations Panel considered applications relating to s106 funds that had not been allocated to a specific project.  With the introduction of CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy) in October 2017 all s106 contributions would be for site-specific measures only, and therefore the unallocated fund would gradually diminish.  Once this fund had been spent, the Planning Obligations Panel would no longer be required to carry out its function. 

It was noted that recommendations would be made to Members with regards to how projects would be prioritised once CIL was implemented.

Members recognised the importance of ensuring that all Parish and Neighbourhood Councils were aware of the funds available in their areas.  The Infrastructure Delivery Plan, which was monitored by the Planning Obligations Officer, included projects that had been asked for by Parish and Neighbourhood Councils.  Members discussed the importance of ensuring that Parish and Neighbourhood Councils submitted information on any proposed community projects that had not yet been submitted. It was noted that Parish and Neighbourhood Councils should make community groups aware that funding was available for community projects.

Whilst feedback from Parish and Neighbourhood Councils regarding the current system for informing them of both allocated and unallocated funds was positive, it was agreed to recommend to the Overview & Scrutiny Committee that a list of all unallocated funds should be circulated to Members with a view of ensuring that they could encourage the Parish and Neighbourhood Councils to apply for grants from the unallocated s106 fund.  The Vice-Chairman requested that the list should include a total of the funding available.

The sub-committee recommended that:

·         Ward Members continue to be circulated with a list of unallocated s106 funding available to each Parish/Neighbourhood Council.

The date scheduled for the next meeting of the sub-committee was 11^th July 2017.