Agenda item

(To consider a report from Tracy Johnson, Senior Scrutiny Officer, on a scrutiny review on Developer Contributions)

In September 2020, the Executive Councillor for Economy and Place, Councillor C J Davie, with the backing of Group Leaders, had requested that a short urgent scrutiny review be undertaken by Scrutiny Panel A on Developer Contributions, on behalf of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board.

Councillor L Wootten, the Chairman of the Panel, reported that the review commenced in October and the Panel had met three times over October and November, and considered the proposals in the Government's Planning for the Future White Paper; what Developer Contributions were and how the process for requesting them worked in Lincolnshire; how councillors were involved in the process; and how the County Council could maximise the benefits from Developer Contributions for local communities. The Panel had identified that there was a need for councillor training on Developer Contributions and more engagement by councillors in the planning process; a centralised system needed to be developed to request, record and monitor Developer Contributions across the Council which should then improve the Section 106 income received; and a need for appropriate lines of accountability and strategic oversight of Section 106 agreements. The Panel had recognised that a more joined up approach with the District Councils would enable more collaborative working to maximise the benefits to local communities. This would become crucial if the White Paper proposals for Developer Contributions were introduced, as Lincolnshire could receive much lower levels of funding in future. To maximise the benefits from Developer Contributions, there were four key points that needed to be addressed by the County Council. These were: what did the Council want developer contributions for; did the Council receive enough income to mitigate the impacts of development; how did the Council decide which schemes went ahead when there was not enough income; and did the Council manage the income it received effectively. Councillor L Wootten reported that subject to the Board's approval she would present the final report and recommendations to the Executive for its consideration on 5 January 2021.

The Board considered the draft final report with recommendations from the Senior Scrutiny Officer. The report highlighted that the following key lines of enquiry for the scrutiny review had been agreed by the Panel as follows: To examine how Developer Contributions could be utilised to maximise the benefits to the local community and how a list of potential  local schemes to fund through Developer Contributions could be developed, while taking into consideration the National Planning Policy Framework, local circumstances and the views of the local member; To examine the impact of the proposals in the Government's consultation paper 'Planning for the future' and what the proposals would mean for Lincolnshire; To examine how to achieve better quality design and more sustainable communities in new developments through the use of Developer Contributions, recognising that the viability of new developments could be marginal to the development industry.

The Scrutiny Panel had recognised that there was an inconsistent approach to Developer Contributions across Lincolnshire with three District Councils having a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) schedule in place, but the rest still using Section 106 agreements. However, even where CIL was in place, additional Developer Contributions could still be sought to mitigate impact. The Scrutiny Panel also recognised that a more joined up approach between the County Council and the District Councils would enable more collaborative partnership working to maximise the benefits from Developer Contributions to the residents of Lincolnshire.

The Panel had developed an action plan which was outlined in the report and included: training for councillors as part of their induction; a short guide for councillors on Developer Contributions; email notifications to councillors of any planning applications in their divisions which would explain what was expected of councillors in their response; a training package for relevant officers to raise awareness of the role of county councillors and provide them with the knowledge and skills to answer queries from parish councillors and the general public regarding Developer Contributions; a Communications Strategy to provide podcasts and guidance to parish/town councils and district councils, and to place on the County Council's website and in libraries to provide clarity of the County Council's role in the Developer Contributions process.

The report contained the following recommendations:

Recommendation 1

That Lincolnshire County Council continue to oppose those aspects of the 'Planning for the future' White Paper which would limit the Council's ability to ensure that new developments had as little impact as possible on existing residents, communities, and businesses.

Recommendation 2

That officers continue to work with developers, building a strong relationship so that developers continue to see Lincolnshire County Council as a partner with whom to engage and whose priorities should be adhered to, whatever recommendations were made through new legislation next year.

Recommendation 3

That the Council establish a strategic approach to requesting, co-ordinating, and monitoring Developer Contributions. The Executive Councillor for Commercial and Environmental Management and the Executive Councillor for Economy and Place should work with the Head of Development Management in its establishment.

Recommendation 4

On those occasions where a scheme could not viably fulfil all requests for Developer Contributions, then the Executive should decide which schemes should be prioritised using a published escalation process. The Executive Councillor for Commercial and Environmental Management and the Executive Councillor for Economy and Place should work with the Head of Development Management in its establishment.

Recommendation 5

An Infrastructure Funding Statement should be produced annually by the Executive in line with the requirements in the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2019.

Recommendation 6

That the Executive approve the implementation of the Councillor Engagement Action Plan outlined in the report.

The Assistant Director – Growth, reported that the Government had started to consider changes to the proposals in the White Paper and that the report would help the Council respond to these as they arose. It was suggested that if and when the recommendations in the scrutiny review were approved the implementation of them would be rapid.

The main impacts on Lincolnshire were noted and these included:- No planning applications would be required for major developments in designated Growth Areas. There would therefore be less opportunity for the County Council to scrutinise planning applications and there would also be less public consultation and challenge; Under the proposal to introduce three zonal areas – growth, renewal and protection, there was no mention of how waste and minerals, which the County Council was responsible for, fitted into the process; Payments would be made at the end of the development. This would mean that any schemes which needed to be completed before the development could commence, such as highways improvements, would have to be funded upfront by the County Council.

Members discussed the report, and during the discussion the following points were noted:

·         The Chairman thanked all those involved in producing a report especially with such a quick turnaround and this was echoed by Councillor Mrs L Wootten who paid tribute to the Panel and all staff involved.

·         The draft final report was an excellent piece of work on a complex subject involving different pieces of legislation. It was suggested that the report should be circulated to Lincolnshire's MPs for information.

·         The report should be circulated to all district and parish councils for educational purposes.

• Recommendation 1 should be amended to say 'as little negative impact' to make it clearer the type of impact the Council sought to minimise on residents, communities and businesses.

·         Lincolnshire County Council, along with the District Councils, should continue to robustly respond to the Government's communications on the 'Planning for the Future' White Paper, in particular to oppose those aspects which would impact negatively on Lincolnshire and outlining the reasons as to why. One major problem not addressed by the White Paper was 'land banking', where developers had received approval but had not commenced the development, or not had any immediate intention of doing so.

·         One major concern was the erosion of local democracy and the limits on input into planning applications.

·         The Council needed to establish clear systems to monitor developer contributions to ensure the money was received and the Council was not put at financial risk. There had been incidences where Section 106 agreements had been agreed as part of the approval, but the money was not received or had been delayed due to cash flow issues with the developer.

·         There was a need for real collaboration between all the councils in Lincolnshire to ensure that the same message was being given to developers and the process was fit for purpose.

·         Planning applications were being approved by the local planning authorities; however some developments were not being built following the approval. Where developments were stalled, eg where foundations were laid but the remainder of the property was not built, then this resulted in a significant blight on some local communities.

·         The Council needed to have good working relationships with all developers and that messages inviting collaboration needed to be communicated to all developers, both large and small.

·         The Council needed to be clear with residents and local communities about how why it was seeking funding, what benefit it hoped to have on the community, how it had spent money received from developer contributions and what benefits had been achieved.

·         The actions to implement the recommendations, if agreed by the Executive, should be reviewed and updated when and where necessary to ensure they were still relevant and fit for purpose in the light of recent Government changes to the White Paper proposals and any additional changes to its proposals in the future.

RESOLVED:

1. That the Board approve the draft final report as the final report on Developer Contributions for submitting to the Executive, subject to recommendation one being amended as follows with the addition of the word 'negative' highlighted in bold text:- Recommendation 1

That Lincolnshire County Council continue to oppose those aspects of the 'Planning for the future' White Paper which would limit the Council's ability to ensure that new developments had as little negative impact as possible on existing residents, communities, and businesses.

2.That a summary of the above comments be passed on to the Executive as part of its consideration of this item.