Community Infrastructure Levy Governance Arrangements

Rother District Council, as a Charging Authority for CIL, retains a portion of CIL generated. Up to 5% can be spent on administrative expenses; 15% (capped at £100/dwelling) of relevant receipts is passed to the parish council, rising to 25% (uncapped) where there is a neighbourhood plan in place. This retained portion is called Strategic CIL and it must be spent on projects which deliver significant infrastructure to support the development of the area.

In order to effectively allocate strategic CIL monies to projects, Rother District Council has established the Strategic Community Infrastructure Levy Allocations Panel (‘The Panel’). The Panel is comprised of Councillors and is supported by officers. The purpose of the Panel is to consider which projects should be invited to make funding applications; to consider submitted applications; and to allocate strategic CIL funding, subject to Chief Executive approval via Delegated Authority.

The membership of the Panel is:

• Portfolio Holder for Strategic Planning
• Portfolio Holder for Economic Development and Regeneration
• Portfolio Holder for Finance and Performance Management
• Chair of the Council
• Chair of Overview & Scrutiny

The meetings of the Panel are not held in public, however, the minutes from their previous meetings can be found here:

• SCILAP – Minutes (13 Jul 2022)
• SCILAP – Minutes (9 Dec 2022)
• SCILAP – Minutes (14 Mar 2023)
• SCILAP – Minutes (11 Sep 2023)
• SCILAP – Minutes (11 December 2023)
• SCILAP – Minutes (25 March 2024)
• SCILAP – Minutes (20 August 2024) – DRAFT

The projects that the Panel consider for strategic CIL funding will be informed by RDC’s Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP) and through expressions of interest (EOI’s) from town & parish councils. The IDP sets out a list of infrastructure requirements to support development proposed by the Local Plan.

Parish and town councils and infrastructure providers will be asked to provide details of their proposed infrastructure requirements to support development through the Local Plan or where housing is built during the Local Plan period. The projects the Panel will consider should have a wide strategic impact in Rother, instead of being locally focussed. Smaller scale projects which are more localised could instead be funded using the local portion of CIL which Town’s and Parish Councils receive.

Funding allocation areas

The Strategic CIL funds that the Panel will allocate are sub-divided into specific allocation areas.

Rother Infrastructure Fund (RIF)

55% of strategic CIL will fund infrastructure projects where RDC considers an infrastructure improvement or new provision is required to meet the adopted Local Plan objectives and/or support housing development. The RIF is for infrastructure providers to apply for funding. Those invited to apply from the RIF will be required to demonstrate how the infrastructure provision meets the Local Plan and Corporate Plan objectives and how it supports and responds to the demands placed on the district though housing development. The funds within the RIF are generated from housing development across the district (Bexhill and the rural areas) and therefore provision which benefits the whole of the district will score highly in assessment.

Infrastructure Matched Fund (IMF)

25% of strategic CIL can be allocated to town/parish councils to deliver infrastructure provision to support development in their area. The provision should be at least 50% match funded from either local CIL and/or other funding sources. Town/Parish proposals which deliver a wider impact could receive a greater portion of funding (up to 100%) depending on whether and to what extent the provision can demonstrate a wider infrastructure benefit. The IMF is split into two sub-funds – one for Bexhill town and one for the rural town/parish councils, each fund representing the CIL funds generated in those areas. All applications will need to demonstrate how the infrastructure provision supports and addresses the demands placed on the area due to housing development.

Climate Emergency Bonus Fund (CEBF)

20% of strategic CIL can be allocated to infrastructure provision which supports the RDC commitment to be a carbon neutral district by 2030 as set out in the Environment Strategy (2020). The CEBF is primarily to ‘top-up’ a funding proposal from the RIF or IMF to ensure the provision actively addresses the climate emergency. In exceptional circumstances provision could receive full funding from the CEBF if it can be demonstrated that the provision is responding to and supporting the impacts of housing development and addressing the climate emergency. All applicants seeking funding from the CEBF will need to clearly document the specific items which will funded from the CEBF. A funding proposal will increase its success of securing funding if, in addition to carbon reduction, it can demonstrate that it contributes towards the five objectives of the RDC Climate Strategy (2023)

Expression of Interest

At the Strategic CIL Allocations Panel December 2023 meeting it was agreed that the Principal CIL Officer will undertake a review of the funding, governance and application process for strategic CIL funding. While this review takes place the Panel have agreed that the Expression of Interest process is paused. For this reason we will not be accepting any expressions for funding at the present time. If you have any questions or a piece of infrastructure provision which you consider requires urgent funding please contact cil@rother.gov.uk