Agenda item

Cabinet Member: Leader

Forward Plan Ref: 2017/112

Contact: Robin Rogers, Strategy Manager Tel: 07789 923206

Report by Director for Planning & Place (CA8).

The County Council proposes to make bids to the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF), an investment programme announced in July 2017 by the Department for Communities and Local Government and administered through the Homes and Communities Agency.

The County Council is required to develop candidate schemes and packages of schemes and make Expression of Interests for viable programmes by 28 September.

This report sets out the requirements of HIF and the process of application and assessment.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

(a)          Agree to the submission of an Expression of Interest to the Housing Infrastructure Fund

(b)         Agree to the process set out above for the assessment of viability of schemes and for their subsequent prioritisation

(c)             Note the current candidate scheme packages and current draft assessments

(d)            Delegate to the Strategic Director for Communities, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Environment, and taking into account the view of the Growth Board, the final viability and prioritisation assessment and the detail of the bid submission including the detail of projects to be included within each scheme.

Cabinet considered a report that sought approval to make bids to the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF), an investment programme announced in July 2017 by the Department for Communities and Local Government and administered through the Homes and Communities Agency.

The County Council is required to develop candidate schemes and packages of schemes and make Expression of Interests for viable programmes by 28 September.

The report set out the requirements of HIF and the process of application and assessment.

Councillor Jane Murphy, Deputy Leader, South Oxfordshire District Council highlighted the very strong case for investment of the Didcot Garden Town project. There were ambitious plans in place for Didcot and a successful HIF bid would make a sizable contribution to those plans. The current delivery plan was at an advanced stage and she was pleased that officers had scored the scheme highly in the current report. With regard to governance she supported the County Council being the accountable body for any HIF funding. Councillor Murphy made it clear that neither South Oxfordshire nor Vale of White Horse were suggesting that the Garden Town Delivery Board should be fund holding or have decision making powers over infrastructure investment. Councillor Murphy was pleased to confirm that SODV supported the principle of a Growth Deal for Oxfordshire and would continue to work with others to secure a positive growth package for the County. In summary Councillor Murphy restated that the Didcot Garden Town was a strong proposal and that it was in the best interests of Oxfordshire for it to be included in the HIF process. However SODC recognised that the final decision on prioritisation rested with the County Council Cabinet and they would support whichever scheme or schemes are put forward. Responding to questions Councillor Murphy confirmed that they were happy to support whichever bids came out strongest but that it was their belief that the Didcot Garden Town proposal would come out strongest

Councillor Neville Harris, local councillor for Didcot Ladygrove, referred to recommendation (d) in the report which he saw as a sign of the further demise of local representation and local councillor engagement under a Cabinet system. He queried where the local councillor engagement was and how his local knowledge would be utilised. He referred to the lack of public engagement with no public exhibition or public meetings being held. He asked that cabinet should look at recommendation (d) and build in some local member engagement. Councillor Hudspeth indicated that he would expect full member engagement as the proposals progressed.

Councillor Liz Brighouse, Opposition Leader, thanked officers who had worked on bringing the proposals forward to respond to the very late bid process from central government. Responding Councillor Hudspeth associated himself with the thanks to officers and replying to a request from Councillor Brighouse, undertook to keep Political Group Leaders informed of discussions as matters progressed.

Bev Hindle, Strategic Director for Communities, took Cabinet through the detail of the report. Responding to questions Bev Hindle explained the revenue risk and the need for further conversation as to how this would be handled. Asked about the weighted scores in the report Bev Hindle stated that the comments from Councillor Murphy had been most helpful.It would be important to get written approvals from other partners.

The Cabinet RESOLVED to:

(a)          Agree to the submission of an Expression of Interest to the Housing Infrastructure Fund

(b)          Agree to the process set out above for the assessment of viability of schemes and for their subsequent prioritisation

(c)          Note the current candidate scheme packages and current draft assessments

(d)          Delegate to the Strategic Director for Communities, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Environment, and taking into account the view of the Growth Board, the final viability and prioritisation assessment and the detail of the bid submission including the detail of projects to be included within each scheme. This should be based upon further thorough evaluation of the robustness of governance arrangements and levels of assurance on deliverability.

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