Agenda item

Report from the Strategic Director of Regeneration and Environment.

Recommendations:

1. That Cabinet approves the allocation of Strategic CIL funds to the following project(s):

·       Medical Centres Improvements

·       Trans Pennine Trail Community Access

2.    That Cabinet approves delegation to the Strategic Director of Regeneration and Environment, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Transport, Jobs and the Local Economy, to establish the process to release funding to the approved project(s) as set out in Section 5 of the report.

Consideration was given to the report which provided an update on the application process for Strategic Community Infrastructure Levy (Strategic CIL) funding which had taken place following Cabinet approval in July 2024. The report also set out the findings of the Strategic CIL officer group assessment on submitted projects against relevant criteria to determine the infrastructure that would most support new growth areas and help bring forward development sites to implement the Local Plan.

The Council had a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) in place for Rotherham which secured contributions from developers towards infrastructure to support growth. CIL payments were required alongside planning permission for certain types of development and worked in tandem with payments negotiated as "Section 106" planning obligations. As of January 2025, the Council held approximately £9.2m in the Strategic CIL fund. The allocation of Strategic CIL funds was a Cabinet decision and funding applications were invited on an annual basis. The overall fund did not need to be used in any one year, it could be rolled forward fully or in part to accumulate with future CIL payments.

In August 2024 a Strategic CIL application pack was sent to over 100 infrastructure contacts responsible for the different types of infrastructure that were reflected in the Infrastructure Delivery Schedule that supported the Local Plan. These types of infrastructure included water, flood risk, broadband & telecommunications, energy, green infrastructure/environment, transport, health, emergency services, cultural & community facilities, education, libraries, and waste. The providers of these different types of infrastructure included external organisations and internal Council services.

Twelve applications were received for Strategic CIL funding through this application round. Seven applications were submitted by the Council’s services and five applications by the NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board. The NHS bids were all for similar schemes to improve local primary care facilities at locations around the Borough affected by growth, so were combined into one bid for assessment. This resulted in eight applications in total being assessed using the criteria approved by Cabinet. Details on the CIL eligibility criteria were set out in paragraphs 2.1 to 2.4 of the report.

Applicants were sent a CIL scoring matrix alongside the application form for transparency and clarity. A Strategic CIL officer panel applied the scoring matrix to the eight applications that were submitted. The Panel had carefully considered whether the projects met the important ‘Gateway Tests’, as set out in paragraph 2.6 of the report, that formed part of the application process. These tests reflected the fundamental role and purpose of Strategic CIL funding, in supporting the delivery of growth as planned for through the Rotherham Local Plan and forming part of the Infrastructure Delivery Schedule.

Out of the eight applications assessed, four potential projects fulfilled the requirements of the Gateway Tests:

• Medical Centre Improvements
• A633 Rotherham to Dearne Valley Bus Priority
• Trans Pennine Trail Community Access
• Rotherham East Sustainable Transport Corridor Extension

Further details on these projects, including information on costs, dates, proposed works, deliverability, funding and benefits. were set out in paragraph 2.8 of the report and at Appendix 1.

Since the submission of CIL bids, the Department of Transport had announced it would develop a new Integrated National Transport Strategy, and it was anticipated a new round of funding would be announced for transport schemes following the Comprehensive Spending Review in late spring 2025. This could allow for transport schemes submitted to CIL to be delivered through external funding. As such, it was not proposed to commit any CIL funding to transport at this time.

The total cost of the eligible projects was £11,737,294. As this exceeded the current Strategic CIL funds and the uncertainty of external funding to transport schemes, preferred options were set out in Section 3 of the report with the

remaining project(s) to be considered for future funding rounds.

The  Medical Centres Improvements project and Trans Pennine Trail Community Access project were recommended for support. The A633 Rotherham to Dearne Valley Bus Priority project and Rotherham East Sustainable Transport Corridor Extension project were recommended for consideration in future rounds. Paragraph 2.13 of the report detailed the ineligible projects.

Resolved:

1.    That Cabinet approve the allocation of Strategic CIL funds to the following project(s):

·       Medical Centres Improvements

·       Trans Pennine Trail Community Access

2.    That Cabinet approves delegation to the Strategic Director of Regeneration and Environment, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Transport, Jobs and the Local Economy, to establish the process to release funding to the approved project(s) as set out in Section 5 of the report.