14. Parish and Town Council – CIL Payments
Details of parish payments made to parish/town councils
Implications for parish/town councils
If you're a parish or town council we'll pass you 15% of CIL receipts that arise from development in your parish area.
Payments will be capped to £100 per Council Tax dwelling per year. For example, a parish council (PC) with over 500 dwellings can't receive more than £50,000 of CIL receipts per year.
In areas with a Neighbourhood Development Plan, we'll pass the PC 25% of CIL receipts, with no cap.
If the PC choose not to receive CIL, you must notify us of this decision. In such cases we'll spend the CIL income on infrastructure requirements in the District.
CIL is paid in instalments linked to the commencement of development. Planning permissions can be valid for three years, so it may be a number of years before significant CIL payments are received.
Payment periods
We'll make payments:
- from 1 April to 30 September to the PC by 28 October of that financial year;
- from 1 October to 31 March to the PC by 28 April of the following financial year.
Parish/Town CIL preparation
Your parish/town council should think about the following before receiving CIL Payments:
- do you have effective reporting mechanisms to show how the PC will spend CIL?
- how will you decide what to spend CIL on?
- how you might engage with the community on how to spend CIL?
To make clear what you expect CIL money to be spent on, you may wish to write a list of the infrastructure projects which the community sees as priorities for delivering, and would like to see provided with CIL funds.
The CIL Regulations state that a Town/Parish Council must use CIL receipts passed to it in accordance with Regulation 59A or 59B to support the development of the local council’s area, or any part of that area, by funding:
- the provision, improvement, replacement, operation or maintenance of infrastructure; or
- anything else that is concerned with addressing the demands that development places on an area.
This gives Parish and Town Councils considerable freedom to spend their proportion of CIL on the things that address the impacts of development on their area.
Notwithstanding this freedom there are a number of factors that should be considered when developing a CIL spending plan.
What are the Infrastructure Needs?
Town or Parish Councils should carefully consider whether the expenditure addresses the extra demand on infrastructure and services that are caused by development within their area and be clear on the links between infrastructure and growth. CIL cannot be used as a replacement for everyday Town or Parish Council expenditure and misspent CIL can be claimed back by East Devon District Council.
The production of a Town or Parish Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP) can be a useful starting point for the prioritisation of infrastructure projects and input into the Council’s wider Infrastructure Delivery Plan is welcomed. A local IDP will assist in understanding how the needs of the town fit with the wider programme for infrastructure works. The IDP can be produced to support a Neighbourhood Plan, or as a stand-alone document.
What are our responsibilities?
Does the Town or Parish Council understand the wider ‘strategic’ infrastructure requirements within East Devon, and how this impacts on the potential scope for ‘local’ infrastructure?
Neighbourhood expenditure should be agreed in the full knowledge of both the needs of a local area and, in so far as it is possible, an understanding of where other strategic investment will be made in the area by the Council and its partners.
Town and Parish Councils should be clear that there may be on going operational and maintenance costs associated with the provision of new infrastructure and will need to be clear how such costs will be met for the life of the infrastructure.
How can we engage with the local community to determine their infrastructure needs?
Town and Parish Councils will need to consider the capacity of existing groups and local residents to engage in the CIL process and to ensure that such processes are inclusive, that all members of the community contribute to determining how local CIL may be spent, including those who are least vocal and most vulnerable.
How can CIL funds be maximised?
There is a temptation to spend CIL receipts quickly on short term/quick win infrastructure projects, however Town and Parish Councils should consider the long term housing growth and resulting infrastructure needs when developing plans for the spending of CIL.
It may take some time for sufficient funds to accumulate for more strategic infrastructure or there may be other funding opportunities which will allow the delivery of more significant infrastructure projects which would benefit the local community.
While Town and Parish Councils are not required to spend their neighbourhood funds in accordance with East Devon District Councils priorities, there are likely to be common infrastructure projects.
It would be good practice to discuss the expenditure of CIL funds with East Devon District Council because early discussions will ensure that projects are in line with the CIL Regulations and will also allow other funding sources to be explored and whether any CIL funding managed by East Devon District Council can go towards the project.
CIL is not only designed to pay for infrastructure needed to support growth, it is also designed to incentivise communities to welcome and promote development within their areas.
Where development is in an area covered by a Neighbourhood Plan the proportion of CIL receipts received by the Town, Parish or Neighbourhood will increase to 25% of the CIL receipts for that Town/Parish.
Town and Parish Councils should carefully consider whether the benefits of introducing a Neighbourhood Plans (noting that such plans should comply with national and local planning policies) outweigh the costs for its introduction, examination and any referendum.
Going forward, the Council will publish here a table of the CIL payments to Town/Parish Councils/Neighbourhood Groups made to date.