7. Housing and Planning Delivery Grant

District Executive – 7th May 2009

7. Housing and Planning Delivery Grant

Executive Portfolio Holder: Peter Seib, Economic Development, Planning and Transport;

Ric Pallister, Health and Housing/Revenues and Benefits

Head of Service: David Stapleton, Director of Health and Wellbeing

Mark Pollock, Director of Economic Vitality

Lead Officer: Andrew Foyne, Head of Economic Development, Planning & Transport

Simon Gale, Head of Development & Building Control,

Colin McDonald, Corporate Housing Strategy Manager

Contact Details: or (01935) 462650

or (01935) 462071

or (01935) 462331

Purpose of the Report

To inform Members of the award of Housing and Planning Delivery Grant for this current financial year and to approve proposals to spend it.

Recommendations

That Members:

(1) Endorse the proposed revenue expenditure items for Housing & Planning Delivery grant (totalling £113,858 with the inclusion of the committed expenditure item from 2008/09).

(2) Endorse the transfer of the capital element of the grant for 2009/10 to the main capital programme (£93,405).

(3) Endorse the transfer of the remaining grant to reserves (£75,470 in total)

Background

Members were informed by the Head of Economic Development, Planning & Transport in February 2008 of the proposals for spending previously received Planning Delivery Grant for Development Plan (Plan making purposes). They were informed in July 2008 by the Head of Development Control of the proposal to delegate the allocation of the previously received Planning Delivery Grant for Development Control Purposes to the Development Control Project Monitoring Board to allocate towards the Planning for Excellence Improvement Plan.

The Government announced in November 2008 that South Somerset would receive an allocation of £287,400 of the new Housing & Planning Delivery Grant for the financial year 2008/9. This money is not ring fenced for planning purposes, however 32.5% or above must be spent on capital items.

Housing & Planning Delivery Grant is designed to incentivise housing growth and the underlying planning requirement to allocate land and put development plans in place. Housing and Planning Delivery Grant offers significant additional funding to help Local Authorities improve their planning and services, particularly in the area of Plan making. The 4 prime criteria on which the provision was determined are Housing Supply, Progress in Plan Making (against the Local Development Scheme), evidence of Joint Working and Completion of Strategic Housing Market Assessments.

Report

Members last received reports on the award of Planning Delivery Grant in February 2008 in relation to Development Plan purposes and in July 2008 in relation to Development Control purposes. Past expenditure on Development Plan matters was set out in the report to Members in February 2008. The report of July 2008 delegated responsibility for spending the grant award for Development Control purposes to the Development Control Project Monitoring Board. In view of this delegation together with the actual spend and commitment resulting and given the prime purpose of the new Housing and Planning Delivery grant to promote plan making and housing supply this report will focus on spending progress and proposals for Development Plan and strategic housing (supply) purposes.

The table below updates the expenditure position since February 2008 for Development Plan expenditure items.

Expenditure Item
Development Plan Items / Estimate February 2008 / Actual Spend 2007/08 / Actual Spend 2008/09 / Committed
Items c/f
Outstanding Commitments
Open Space Assessment
Workplace demand study
(£20,000* funded from LABGI)
Planning brief Cattle Market / £
5,000
20,000*
7,363 / £
-
20,000
(20,000)
7,363 / £
5,000
-
-
- / £
-
-
-
-
LDF requirements
Strategic Flood risk Assessment
Strategic Housing Market Assessment
(SHMA LSP contribution £5,000**)
Urban role & function study
(commitment not required £18,200)
Appropriate Assessment (Phase 1)
(commitment not required £5,222)
Web based publishing software / 18,670
41,528**
43,700
8,000
13,090 / 15,084
29,525
-
-
13,090 / 3,586
12,003**
(5,000)
25,500***
-
- / -
-
-
-
2,778****
-
Totals
LABGI and LSP funding & reduced commitments
Revised PDG Commitments / 157,351
(48,422)
108,929 / 65,062 / 41,089 / 2,778

* Paid for from Local Authority Business Grant Incentive Funds

** The LSP have made a £5,000 contribution to this assessment for the South Somerset Housing Market Element.

*** The original commitment of £43,700 has been revised to £25,500. Invoices received but payment awaiting final acceptance of the reports.

**** The commitment had been reduced from £8,000 to £2,778, reflecting sharing of costs by Somerset Councils.

The new Housing & Planning Delivery Grant allocation for 2008/09 was £287,400, of which £93,405 is required to be spent for capital purposes. The proposals contained in this report relate to the revenue part for Development Plan purposes for the sum of £230,417, made up of £36,422 brought forward from the 2007/08 grant and £193,995 from the 2008/09 grant.

The Report in February 2008 on Housing Delivery Grant for Development Plan purposes identified a shortfall in funding provision from the Grant against requirement for expenditure. This shortfall was to be made up by use of the Local Plan Reserve. In the event, delayed expenditure and reduced actual spend against estimates has meant that the Local Plan reserve has not had to be used.

Priorities for Expenditure

The Government’s priority is to spend the Housing & Planning Delivery Grant on Plan making and making housing development happen through the Planning Service. This has been taken as the main guide in putting forward priorities for expenditure. The clear emphasis of the Government on housing supply provides an additional focus on delivery through Strategic Housing. Priorities for revenue expenditure are set out below in relation to Plan Making and Strategic Housing.

Plan Making Priorities

Staff

In order to establish a complete planning policy team to take forward the Core Strategy and the wider Local Development Scheme an interim team leader and interim policy planner have been taken on (from start of March & 26th January respectively) for a 6 month period with the intention to replace them with permanent staff once & on the presumption that the job market will loosen to ensure recruitment. These 2 posts will account for £36,180 net once savings from the posts they occupy have been taken into account. (The decision to employ in advance of District Executive approval was made on the basis that their initial costs could be covered by savings, and their employment period could and would be curtailed rapidly should Members not accept the Proposal).

The Somerset Strategic Housing Officer’s Group made a claim in principle at the start of the year to extend the current 3 year contract of the Housing Needs & Private Sector Research Co-ordinator to the end of March 2010. This post is jointly funded by the Somerset District Councils and as well as being responsible for collating and co-ordinating existing housing needs data has successfully acted as Project Manager for the Somerset Strategic Housing Market Assessment (for both the Taunton and the South Somerset Housing Market Area). Key work for the year ahead is updating work on the Strategic Housing Market Assessment, co-ordinating and acting as secretariat to the Taunton & South Somerset Housing Market Partnership, work supporting the Gypsy and Traveller Assessment and further basic information gathering and assessment. A likely cost of £25,155 for the post extension split between Somerset District Councils presents costs of £5,100 for South Somerset. It is felt that the Housing & Planning Delivery Grant is the proper funding source for this post that has and continues to provide a strategic link between the Strategic Housing and Planning Policy.

The Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment, which is a statutory requirement currently underway, should be finished in early summer in order to provide background information and proposals for strategic housing allocations in the South Somerset Core Strategy. To meet this timetable considerable support from Development Control has been necessary and in order to ensure that this support doesn’t directly conflict with development control targets, some element of overtime resource has been identified as necessary. This equates to around 25 days or £4,700.

Evidence Base

In order to provide a comprehensive evidence base the following additional studies have been identified and considered appropriate to fund from the Housing and Planning Delivery Grant.

Employment Land Review – Supplementary Costs £4,500

Gypsy & Traveller Assessment £7,700

Retail Capacity Study Review £17,500

Appropriate Assessment (Phase II) £3,900

The Employment Land Review is a crucial evidence basis for the Core Strategy. The supplementary costs reflect additional Consultant time input into the report in order to restructure it to reflect the latest government guidance and further relevant information, particularly employment projections from Roger Tym Architects report on Regional Employment Requirements that were prepared to support the Regional Spatial Strategy.

The second of these is an estimated contribution from the Council to a forthcoming assessment required by Government and being project managed by the County Council with half the costs from the County and the rest being shared between Districts.

The Retail Capacity Study Review should ensure that the 2006 Study is updated to reflect the “credit crunch” and recent trends on Internet shopping.

The Appropriate Assessment is a statutory requirement to assess the potential environmental impact of development on Special Protection Areas and other nationally important environmental assets. Phase I of the scoping report has been undertaken and received. Phase II will determine and recommend on the specific impact of major development on the Somerset Moors and Levels (particularly in the case for this Council in terms of water flow and quality of major development upstream), and will inform the scale and location of appropriate development in South Somerset and any migration requirements to protect the Moors and Levels. The figure presented is the estimated sum for this Council to pay as its part of the total Phase II bill.

Other Priorities

Other priorities include the following:

Early introduction of recommendations from the Strategic Housing Market Assessment

An additional benefit to Planning Policy (and the Strategic Housing Service) will be the employment of counsel for an opinion on whether the result of the Strategic Housing Market Assessment, particularly in relation to the lower threshold at which affordable housing provision can apply, can be introduced in advance of adoption of the Core Strategy (2 years time). An estimate of £1,500 is suggested for counsel’s opinion.

Yeovil Urban Development Framework

In the absence of RDA funding for a refresh of the influential Yeovil Town Centre Urban Development Framework a contribution of £30,000 towards the overall cost is considered appropriate in order to provide updated information and guidance with which to develop the Yeovil Vision. The balance of the funding for the Framework will come from the available Yeovil Vision funding and the precise nature and cost of the Framework update is currently being established.

Lean Management

Additionally, the financial year ahead will see a review of the entire planning service with the Lean Management Initiative. It is anticipated that this will bring forward ideas and proposals that may require additional revenue resource. It is not appropriate at this stage and in view of the inherent uncertainty in the process to seek to preserve the remaining sum of £75,470 for use for planning purposes.

Strategic Housing

In relation to Strategic Housing, it is felt that direct benefits for the Service will be derived from a number of the above proposals. In particular, the extension of the post of the Housing Needs and Private Sector Research Co-ordinator should result in essential housing information being made available and aid the Housing Market Partnership operating effectively.

The Strategic Housing Service, it is considered, can benefit from the application of capital monies in order to provide additional social housing. In this regard it is felt that the capital allocation (which amounts to £93,405) should be allocated towards the main capital programme.

Financial Implications

The Table below sets out the proposed expenditure to be funded by using the balance of PPG 2007-08, and the new sum of Housing and Planning Delivery Grant 2008-09.

Available Funding: /

Total

/ Revenue / Capital
£ / £ / £
Balance of PPGbrought forward 01April 2008:
Development Plan (plan making purposes) / 36,422 / 36,422
HPDG received 2008/09 / 287,400 / 193,995 / 93,405
Total Grant Funds Available / 323,822 / 230,417 / 93,405
Less Expenditure and Commitments: / Revenue
£
Expenditure in 2008/09
Development Plan
Strategic Flood Risk Assessment
Strategic Housing Market Assessment – net (12,003 less 5,000)
Urban Role & Function Study
Open Space Assessment / 3,586
7,003
25,500
5,000
Total Expenditure during 2008/09 / 41,089
Commitments unpaid in 2008/09
Development Plan
Appropriate Assessment / 2,778
Current Outstanding Commitments / 2,778
Grant Fund left after deduction of expenditure in 2008/09 and Current Commitments: / 186,550
Proposed Expenditure for 2009/10 / Revenue
£
Plan Making Proposals
Interim Planning Policy Staff
Support for contract extension of Housing Needs Coordinator
SHLAA Staff Overtime
Employment Land Review – supplementary Costs
Gypsy & Traveller Assessment
Retail Capacity Study
Appropriate Assessment Phase II
Early introduction of recommendations from SHMA
Yeovil UDF / 36,180
5,100
4,700
4,500
7,700
17,500
3,900
1,500
30,000
Total Plan Making / 111,080
Total Proposed Expenditure for 2009/10 / 111,080
Transfer of Balance to Reserves / 75,470

Risk Matrix

R, CpP, CP
CY / F

Likelihood

7. Housing and Planning Delivery Grant