Skip to main content

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Room 18.4, 18th Floor, 64 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 6QP. View directions

Contact: Kisi Smith-Charlemagne, Senior Governance and Committee Officer  Tel: 020 7641 2783; Email:  kscharlemagne@westminster.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Membership

To report any changes to the membership.

Minutes:

1.1       There were no changes to the membership.

 

2.

Declarations of Interests

To receive and record declarations of interest.

Minutes:

2.1       Councillor David Harvey declared that he was familiar with a number of the CIL applications contained in the committee report.  Councillor Mitchell had no declarations beyond his portfolio.

 

3.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 141 KB

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting.

Minutes:

3.1         RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 25 July 2018 be approved for signature by the Chairman as a true and correct record of proceedings.

 

4.

WESTMINSTER CIL AND POOLED SECTION 106 FUNDING-PROJECT ALLOCATIONS (Q2) pdf icon PDF 684 KB

Minutes:

4.1       Michael Clarkson, Principal Policy Officer, introduced the report.  Mr Clarkson advised the Committee that the only application that was dependent on another funding stream was the Church Street Triangle, which is subject to a 50% match-funding proposal through the GLA’s ‘Good Growth Fund’.  Mr Clarkson explained that this was relevant to the decision, as the bid was dependant on the Council funding 50% of the scheme.  Mr Clarkson reminded the Committee that it had taken a similar decision in March 2018 for another scheme at Church Street.  Unfortunately, the previous ‘Good Growth’ bid to the GLA was unsuccessful and the funds have now been reallocated to this wider project, which stands a much better chance of success.

 

4.2       The Committee considered the next round of funding allocations for the strategic CIL expenditure.  Councillor Harvey was happy with the applications and had no additional comments to add.  Councillor Mitchell was also happy with the applications, however queried what consultation had been undertaken with the relevant Ward Councillors for each of the projects. 

 

4.3       Ezra Wallace, Head of City Policy and Strategy, responded to the concern raised, advising the Committee that the proposals were put together by council officers in the various service areas, which are then assessed by a Senior Officer Group before being recommended to the committee. The protocol was for those developing proposals to advise and involve local Ward Councillors in this process.  Councillor Mitchell informed the Committee that this had not been happening. Mr Wallace assured Councillor Mitchell that he would be taking this back to his department to follow up and resolve. 

 

4.4       Councillor Beddoe asked for clarification on the processes currently being implemented regarding allocation of CIL monies. Mr Clarkson advised that the regulations require CIL funds to be used to provide infrastructure to support the development of the city, and sets out how the council should apportion CIL receipts. The strategic portion of CIL (around 75-80%) is used for infrastructure projects across the city. There is also an allowance for up to 5% of receipts to be used for administration, this includes officers and technology used to collect the money the council is owed. The legislation requires 15% of receipts to be spent in consultation with local communities, i.e. the neighbourhood portion, of which no funds have been spent to date. Now that sufficient funds have accrued, it is appropriate to clarify a process for communities to access these funds in agreement with the council.

 

4.5       Mr Wallace explained to the Committee the process for accessing the strategic proportion of the funding, he explained that the policy team circulate how much funding is available per funding round, and officers would then come forward with proposals.  Mr Clarkson advised that the proposals are then divided into categories of infrastructure such as public realm and transport, education, parks and open spaces, utilities and waste and contingencies or other priorities as and when they may arise. He advised that this was set out in the council’s CIL  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Any Other Business Which the Chairman Considers Urgent

Minutes:

5.1       Councillor Mitchell informed the Committee that with regard to the neighbourhood bids, he and Councillor Harvey did not have neighbourhood forums in their wards and would be interested to see what happens when the council announced decisions on neighbourhood CIL funding allocations, he hoped that it would generate some interest in forming new neighbourhood forums.