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The Cabinet received report ES/1637 of the Cabinet Member with responsibility for Planning and Coastal Management, which sought approval of the Infrastructure Funding Statement 2022-23, the allocation of District CIL funding towards the infrastructure projects and the changes to the CIL Spending Strategy.
Councillor Yule introduced the report and noted she would be adding an additional recommendation that the report be passed to the Full Council for information, in order to facilitate increased knowledge on the rolling out of CIL to all councillors and that additional training to be given. Councillor Yule advised that Member training would be rolled out in the autumn to enable councillors to better interpret the CIL funding available in their ward and to propagate the knowledge of CIL across the Council.
Councillor Yule stated the importance of CIL in delivering much-needed infrastructure and gave thanks to the CIL Spending Working Group for its intense work following the May 2023 elections, as well as thanking the officers for their support to the group.
The Leader invited questions from the Cabinet. Councillor Yule confirmed to Councillor Langdon-Morris that potential clawback of CIL, where it had not been spent, would be discussed by the CIL Working Group during the next round of funding; Councillor Yule confirmed she would be discussing the issue with officers to see how it could be addressed.
The Leader invited questions and comments from other Members present. Councillor Ashdown queried if the proposed training could be incorporated into training for town and parish councils; Councillor Yule confirmed that further CIL training would be made available for these councils.
Councillor Gooch highlighted the Lowestoft Waste Transfer Station and Recycling Centre improvements and asked how the district CIL allocation fitted with the approval granted by Suffolk County Council. The Infrastructure Delivery Manager, at the invitation of Councillor Yule, replied that when planning permission was granted Suffolk County Council would have provided an estimate of the district CIL needed, which was then revised when the calculation for the CIL application was completed, given the time lapse between planning permission being granted and development commencing. The Cabinet was assured that officers undertook due diligence when district CIL was applied for, to ensure that infrastructure projects were not premature and being delivered too far in advance of permitted development.
Councillor Gooch asked if there were any plans for a "reuse" shop as part of the improvements; the Infrastructure Delivery Manager noted the recent changes in legislation and understood that Suffolk County Council was waiting for further information before finalising the project.
There being no further questions, Councillor Yule moved the recommendations in the report, along with an additional recommendation that the report be passed to the Full Council for information, in order to facilitate increased knowledge on the rolling out of CIL to all councillors and that additional training to be given, which were seconded by Councillor Ashton.
The Leader invited the Cabinet to debate the proposals. Councillor Ashton commended Councillor Yule and the officers for bringing forward such a large piece of work and considered it important for all councillors to have this information to better support their towns and parishes.
There being no further debate the Leader proceeded to the vote and it was unanimously
RESOLVED
1. That the Infrastructure Funding Statement 2022-23 at Appendix A to the report be approved, for publication by 31 December 2023, subject to further minor financial, typographical, and presentational amendments confirmed through the Cabinet Member with responsibility for Planning and Coastal Management.
2. That the allocation of District CIL funding towards the infrastructure projects, as outlined in Appendix B to the report, be approved, and those Local CIL Fund projects approved by the CIL Spending Working Group in June 2023 be noted.
3. That the changes to the CIL Spending Strategy, as outlined in Appendix C to the report, be approved.
4. That the report be passed to the Full Council for information, in order to facilitate increased knowledge on the rolling out of CIL to all councillors and that additional training to be given.