Agenda item

The report of the Executive Manager – Finance and Corporate Services is attached.

It was RESOLVED that

a)            the creation of the West Bridgford Special Expenses and Community Infrastructure Levy Advisory Group (in the meantime the Group operates informally and develops a draft Terms of Reference), be endorsed and recommended to Full Council; and

b)            the allocation of Members for the West Bridgford Special Expenses and Community Infrastructure Levy Advisory Group be endorsed and recommended to Full Council, subject to the following amendment that one position on the Group be allocated to the Green Party, in lieu of one seat being allocated to the Conservative Group.

Councillor Robinson advised that before the report was presented, two amendments were proposed.

1.            Currently the report referred to the establishment of the Special Expenses and Community Infrastructure Levy Advisory Group and it was proposed that the report should be amended to refer to the West Bridgford Special Expenses and Community Infrastructure Levy Advisory Group.

2.            The report outlined that ideally the Group should consist of ward members for West Bridgford. Based on the current rules of proportionality, the Green Party would not be allocated a seat. The Conservative Group considered that it was important that the Lady Bay ward was represented on the Group and had agreed that it would be appropriate to allocate one of its seats to the Green Group.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Contracts presented the report of the Executive Manager – Finance and Corporate Services outlining the creation of the West Bridgford Special Expenses and Community Infrastructure Levy Advisory Group.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Contracts reiterated the importance of the comments made by Councillor Robinson that the name of the Group should be amended to refer to West Bridgford as the matter solely related to West Bridgford. Currently there was no forum in place to consider potential allocation of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) in West Bridgford. The establishment of the Group also provided an opportunity for greater transparency to the current Special Expense for West Bridgford. The Group would look at the current approach to Special Expenses and would be required to assist in recommending the budget annually and review its progress every six months. It would also be responsible for recommending the strategy for the allocation of the CIL, which would be subject to public consultation. It was the intention that the Group would initially meet informally to agree its Terms of Reference, until it was formally ratified by Council and the Constitution was amended. The Group would be Chaired by the independent Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Finance and the group should ideally consist of Councillors from West Bridgford and be based on current proportionality. However, as referred to above, an amendment has been proposed to allow a change to the allocation on the Group. There were several legal obligations regarding the CIL as it was a discretionary charge. All authorities adopting the CIL regime were required to set up a Charging Schedule setting out the rates applicable to the area. It must also take account of matters including the total cost of the infrastructure requiring funding, other sources of funding available and the potential effect of CIL on the viability of development in the area.    

In seconding the recommendation, Councillor Mason referred to the importance of transparency and accountability in ensuring that local residents were aware of where and how decisions were being made and how funding was being allocated. The importance of ensuring the correct membership of the Group was reiterated, as it was important that ward members for West Bridgford were involved and had an input, and it was pleasing to note that Lady Bay would be represented on the Group.

Councillor Robinson confirmed that the Group would be an advisory group and would report its findings to the Cabinet for decision making. The CIL was a new Government initiative and would potentially generate substantial sums of money from local developments and it was vital that the Council had a procedure in place to manage that and the new Group would play an important role in making recommendations to the Cabinet. The importance of the new Group working closely with all local groups in the area to receive their input was reiterated. That would allow the Group to agree a list of priorities to submit to the Cabinet. It was confirmed that the Group would be ongoing for as long as the CIL requirements were in place.  

It was RESOLVED that

a)            the creation of the West Bridgford Special Expenses and Community Infrastructure Levy Advisory Group (in the meantime the Group operates informally and develops a draft Terms of Reference), be endorsed and recommended to Full Council; and

b)            the allocation of Members for the West Bridgford Special Expenses and Community Infrastructure Levy Advisory Group be endorsed and recommended to Full Council, subject to the following amendment that one position on the Group be allocated to the Green Party, in lieu of one seat being allocated to the Conservative Group.