Agenda item

Cabinet will, at its meeting on 19 December 2023, be considering a report on the Infrastructure Funding Statement 2022/23.

Cllr Judy Roberts, Cabinet member for Infrastructure and Development Strategy, and Bill Cotton, Corporate Director for Environment and Place, have been invited to present the report and to answer the Committee’s questions.

The Committee is recommended to consider the report, to ask any questions, and to AGREE any recommendations it wishes to make to Cabinet arising from the report and discussion.

Cllr Judy Roberts, Cabinet member for Infrastructure and Development Strategy, attended to introduce the Infrastructure Funding Strategy IFS) which detailed the developer contributions secured, spent, or received during the previous financial year, 1 April 2022-31 March 2023.

Cllr Roberts was accompanied by Bill Cotton, Corporate Director for Environment and Place, Rachel Wileman, Director of Environment, Planning, and Climate Change, and Nicholas Perrins, Head of Strategic Planning, who attended to answer the Committee’s questions.

Cllr Roberts introduced the report by outlining the purpose of the Infrastructure Funding Statement, which was to satisfy a central government requirement that the Council report on its activities around Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and s.106-derived infrastructure spending over the previous financial year.

The Director of Environment, Planning, and Climate Change provided further detail. In 2022/23 the Council had secured 68 new planning obligations for developer contributions worth £124m. Of that, £28.2m had been spent in-year, the overwhelming majority on education and transport. A total of £62.3m of contributions were received in 2022/23 but the Committee was concerned to note that only 45% of this amount, namely £28.2m, was spent. In total, including monies received in 2022/23, the Council was holding £276m for the purposes of future projects, and had secured (though not received) additional funding of £291m. Of the money held, £97.7m had been allocated to projects which were either in the capital programme or had a business case.

In-year education spending, £18.4m across 31 projects, was aimed at adding additional pupil places to support new development. Transport spending, £6.7m over 50 different projects had tended to relate to active travel, bus travel or junction improvements. Eight libraries had received upgrades or refurbishments at a cost of £351k.

Assessing future priorities for infrastructure funding made reference to a number of factors, including statutory requirements, Local Plans, County Council policies such as the Local Transport and Connectivity Plans and service plans, externally-held policies such as the Future Oxfordshire Partnership’s Oxfordshire Infrastructure Strategy, and the feedback from Localities meetings.

Key future priorities included:

i)               future school expansions;

ii)              active and sustainable traffic projects to reduce traffic levels;

iii)            tackling congestion, improving air quality and making bus journeys quicker;

iv)            providing new household waste recycling facilities;

v)             specialist housing, such as for adult social care;

vi)            resourcing fire and rescue services;

vii)           developing community hubs.

It was clear that the Council was effective at collecting developer contributions to pay for infrastructure crucial to the Council’s functions. A significant sum was being held (£276m) of which 35% was earmarked for spending. A corporate project was underway to review how s.106 monies could be used to support the capital programme and ensure faster delivery of projects which would benefit local communities.

In response to the presentation, the Committee discussed multiple issues which included:

·       The profile of capital expenditure necessary to achieve the Council’s transport ambitions as set out in the Local Transport Connectivity Plan;

·       The flexibilities, barriers and constraints around expenditure of s. 106 monies;

·       The capacity, communication and integration of the Council’s officers responsible for s. 106;

·       The impacts of recent developments such as the loss of support for the Oxfordshire 2050 Plan and the call-in of the Housing Infrastructure Fund decision by the Secretary of State on priorities and funding;

·       The Council’s forward planning of projects;

·       Means of improving governance, communication and cross-working between different infrastructure-providing stakeholders, particularly the County and District/City Councils.

The Council resolved to AGREE recommendations under the following headings to Cabinet in time for its meeting on 19 December 2023 when Cabinet would also be considering the IFS.

·       That the Council is mindful to build in as much flexibility as possible to its s.106 agreements at negotiation and agreement stages;

·       That the Council holds conversations with non-CIL collecting district councils in the county to emphasise the benefits of collecting CIL funding over s.106 contributions;

·       That the Council’s progress review of s. 106 funded infrastructure projects provide, for each project, an easy to read summary of the barriers, constraints and trigger points it is subject to;

·       That the Council involves local members throughout the full process of infrastructure delivery in their areas via, in the first instance, its Locality meetings;

·       That the Council improves the involvement and communication between all stakeholders in the infrastructure delivery process, particularly between the negotiation and delivery teams, and the delivery teams and the wider Council;

·       That the Council invests in its infrastructure delivery, including project management, to enable it to reach a high level of efficiency and effectiveness, reducing delays or the threat of handing back developer contributions for undelivered infrastructure;

·       That the Council leads on improving strategic coordination between tier 1 and tier 2 authorities in the county via the Future Oxfordshire Partnership to embed necessary infrastructure requirements for the achievement of the LTCP targets in the next iteration of the OXIS;

·       That a back-casting exercise from 2030 in reference to the OXIS refresh be undertaken and the required investment in infrastructure to achieve LTCP targets to be compared with current plans and the OXIS be updated as necessary;

·       That the Council develops a pipeline of infrastructure projects, particularly around Active Travel;

·       That the Council undertakes an audit of its spending on pavements, street-lighting and other walking infrastructure.