Using s106 to fund staff resource/s - Public forum - Planning Advisory Service (PAS)

We have been charging since last June, and are just about to put a paper through committee to formalise this. If accepted we will be charging £750 per main clause and £350 for unilaterals, amounts ringfenced to pay for monitoring officer costs only. I have done some detailed work to calculate what the costs of my post are, and the time involved in monitoring work (broken down in detail with an hourly rate applied). This, and committee approval, will provide a strong position to justify if challenged. In reality we have been challenged by developers just a few times, and each time they were not willing to delay the application for such a relatively small contribution. Lots of authorities are now charging for this service, at varying rates. As well as Circular 05/05 providing justification, a joint paper has been issued by the Department of Communities and Local Government, the Royal Town Planning Institute and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation titled Shaping and Delivering Tomorrow's Places: Effective Practice in Spatial Planning. In recommendations 38 and 39 it advocates that “When negotiating any planning gain, to include a percentage for implementation monitoring” and “to appoint a Community Delivery Auditor to monitor the delivery of all planning gain agreements from the proceeds off the management levy on each agreement”

Here at Sheffield City Council, an administration charge was introduced on S106 obligations to fund my post. The charge is an additional 3% of the total open space contribution, capped at a maximum of £4000.

We (Bristol City Council) have been charging a Monitoring Fee for all developments requiring a Section 106 Agreement or Unilateral Undertaking since 2002. We took a paper setting out options and justifications for implementing the fee to our exec member in order to formalise the process, and have been charging a fee equivalent to 15% of the Planning Application Fee ever since. Initially developers challenged the fee as we were one of the first authorities to implement this, however it seems to be pretty common practice now and we've not been challenged regarding Monitoring Fees for some years.

Although monitoring fees not yet in place, Cambridge City Council is considering a flat fee of £150 for each financial clause imposed and £300 for each infrastructure provision clause or condition. For example, a unilateral requiring solely formal open space, informal open space and childrens facilities contributions and a community facilities contribution, the fee would be £600. For S106 agreements, the fee would be much higher depending on the number of financial and infrastructure provision clauses imposed.

West Berkshire has had a full time post in planning funded from S106 contributions to do nothing but manage and monitor S106 moneys. An annual print-out from the S106 database is sent to Ward Members and parish/town councils, so they can monitor spending in their areas, by service and APP No. It has proved an excellent way to ensure that the money is spent appropriately. Caroline Walsh cwalsh@westberks.gov.uk is the person who can provide more information. I've been involved in getting the policy approved by members.