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Planning consideration

Infrastructure funding statements

A summary of financial contributions councils have secured through section 106 agreements from new developments

Design stage
On the platform
Tags

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Synonyms
  • IFS
Legislation
Expected number of records
Unknown
Frequency of updates
Annually
Useful links
No useful links added
Technical specification
View specification

Background information

Each planning consideration we work on passes through the stages of our design process, where we research and answer specific questions to help us collect more information.

Backlog

  • Who asked for 'Infrastructure funding statements' data?

    Historical consideration - first looked at in 2020

  • What is the driver for the request?

    Existing planning requirement

  • Which 2024 focus area does the request support?

    • Included in LURA

Screen

  • What is the 'Infrastructure funding statements' consideration?

    An infrastructure funding statement is a document that must be published each year by a “contribution receiving authority”. A contribution receiving authority is any authority which issues a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) liability notice or receives money or in-kind works from a Section 106 agreement. This means almost all local planning authorities need to produce one, including county councils. Counties that enter into a section 106 agreement as a signatory must report the agreement in an IFS. It is also good practice for counties to account in the IFS for funds passed to them by districts. Where parishes receive a proportion of CIL they need to produce a report for each financial year in which they receive CIL receipts too.

    An IFS must include: 1. The infrastructure projects or types the authority intends will be, or may be, funded at least in part by CIL 2. A CIL report 3. A planning obligations (Section 106) report

  • Is there legislation that defines 'Infrastructure funding statements'?

    Yes

    • What is the legislation that defines 'Infrastructure funding statements'?

      CIL Regulations 2010 (as amended).

    • What is the specific part of the legislation that describes how a 'Infrastructure funding statements' gets designated?

      Regulation 121A - "(1) Subject to paragraph (2), no later than 31st December in each calendar year a contribution receiving authority must publish a document (“the annual infrastructure funding statement”) which comprises the following—

      (a)a statement of the infrastructure projects or types of infrastructure which the charging authority intends will be, or may be, wholly or partly funded by CIL (other than CIL to which regulation 59E or 59F applies) (“the infrastructure list”);

      (b)a report about CIL, in relation to the previous financial year (“the reported year”), which includes the matters specified in paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 (“CIL report”);

      (c)a report about planning obligations, in relation to the reported year, which includes the matters specified in paragraph 3 of Schedule 2 and may include the matters specified in paragraph 4 of that Schedule (“section 106 report”)."

    • What is the specific part of the legislation that requires the publication of 'Infrastructure funding statements'?

      Regulation 121A, paragraph (3) - "A contribution receiving authority must publish each annual infrastructure funding statement on its website."

  • Who, in law, is responsible for the planning consideration or makes decisions about 'Infrastructure funding statements'?

  • Which organisations do we think should publish the data?

    • Local authorities

  • Is the Infrastructure funding statements a trigger?

    No

  • Is the Infrastructure funding statements something to consult during plan making?

    Yes

    • Provide information about when Infrastructure funding statements is used during plan making

      An IFS is useful as it demonstrates the funding which has been collected, allocated and spent. This can inform plan making through identifying the infrastructure schemes which have committed funding, and can be planned for. Many local authorities prepare Infrastructure Delivery Plans (IDPs), which set out the infrastructure that is required to support planned growth throughout the plan-period, as well as how this will be funded. This will inform the IFS.

  • Is there any Infrastructure funding statements data already available?

    Yes

  • Do we think the data should come from a single source?

    No - an IFS is something that is completed annually by local authorities individually and so each document will be separate and need to be collated.

  • Will a data standard be required?

    Yes

Research

  • Do we understand the lifecycle of a Infrastructure funding statements?

  • Do we understand how the data is created/produced?

    The data within an IFS is created using transaction information from LPAs, which set out the money collected from developers, and it's intended use.

  • Where will or should the data be used?

    Having infrastructure funding statements on the platform will be useful to understand how much funding LPAs have collected from developer contributions, as well as how that funding has been allocated and spent. This ensures transparency between LPAs, developers and the communities they serve.

  • Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), Developer Contributions

  • Who are the statutory consultees for Infrastructure funding statements?

  • Other than the statutory consultees who are the primary users of Infrastructure funding statements? How do we expect them to use Infrastructure funding statements?

    Planning officers, developers, local communities

  • What are the planning needs for this data?

    Local planning authorities must publish their Infrastructure Funding Statements annually, to demonstrate the amount of funding collected through developer contributions, as well as how that funding has been allocated and spent. This is useful, as it shows how development has been mitigated, through infrastructure schemes, affordable housing etc., to benefit the local community. It also contributes towards improving transparency between LPAs, developers and local communities. Furthermore, reporting on developer contributions ensures that LPAs are able to keep track of the contibutions they have received, to reduce the risk of contributions being left unspent.

  • Who are the types of users who might benefit from having access to Infrastructure funding statements data?

    LPA Planning officers (both DM and policy), developers, local communities

  • What are some potential uses of Infrastructure funding statements data?

    The publication of infrastructure funding statements as data may contribute towards building an understanding of local communities that development leads to investment into affordable housing and infrastructure. An infrastructure funding statement demonstrates this in a clear and transparent way.

    Furthermore, where clear and up-to-date guides to developer contributions aren't available, it can be useful to review an infrastructure funding statement to understand the likely costs associated with growth, and the funding allocated to support investment into infrastructure and affordable housing.

  • What's the value of adding Infrastructure funding statements data to the platform?

    Local planning authorities must publish their Infrastructure Funding Statements annually, to demonstrate the amount of funding collected through developer contributions, as well as how that funding has been allocated and spent. This is useful, as it shows how development has been mitigated, through infrastructure schemes, affordable housing etc., to benefit the local community. It also contributes towards improving transparency between LPAs, developers and local communities. Furthermore, reporting on developer contributions ensures that LPAs are able to keep track of the contibutions they have received, to reduce the risk of contributions being left unspent.

  • From what we have learnt so far are there any risks to making Infrastructure funding statements data available?

3 updates

  • Kieran Wint (21 January 2025)

    As can be seen in the "Screen" stage for this consideration, an annual document has been captured as a source for the data, but this largely depends on how we aim to implement this consideration as data on the platform. If the aim of this consideration is a seeded dataset of documents, similar to how we're capturing local plans, we should be able to progress.

  • Claire Miller (26 September 2024)

    As per some research we did, summarised in this blog on an analysis of local plans and local area requirements, we're confident that this consideration acts as an INPUT to the process of creating a local plan.

  • Kieran Wint (03 September 2024)

    As per the guidance on publishing developer contributions data, 'Planning authorities must publish their infrastructure funding statements once a year.'

Last updated: 2025-04-28 09:32:43