1.
Terms of Reference of the
Board
1.1.
The Board shall consider bids for Community
Infrastructure (CIL) funding (in accordance with Appendices 1 and
2), and submit recommendations to Cabinet for ratification. If
Cabinet chooses not to ratify a particular recommendation, then it
shall provide an explanation setting out its concerns and request
that the Board reconsiders the issue.
2.
Membership of the Board
2.1.
The Board will comprise of 15 Members of the Council
to be chosen according to political proportionality rules, none of
whom may be members of the Cabinet. The
membership of the Board can be found at Appendix H –
Membership of Council Committees, Cabinet and Advisory Committees
and Boards.
2.2.
When appointing the membership, Cabinet will appoint
the Chairman and Vice Chairman, who will form part of the 15
members.
2.3.
Membership to be agreed annually.
3. Role of
members of the Board and members conduct
3.1 It is
incumbent that Members of the Spending Board ensure that they
remain impartial and receptive to all points of debate before
reaching a decision on how to vote on a Bid.
3.2
Members of the Board should remain at meetings of the Board until
the end of the meeting unless they have a compelling reason not to
do so.
3.3
Members of the Board who are not present for consideration of all
Bids, or who are not present during the whole of the discussion,
should not vote on any Bid as they will not have heard all the
arguments for and against the proposals.
3.4
Members of the Board should be informed when a Bid is submitted by
the Council or involves the provision of infrastructure on Council
land.
3.5 Subject to the
Council’s Code of Conduct and the Localism Act 2011 (or any
Act superseding these Acts), Members of the Board can vote on all
Bids but must make declarations of interest, Lobbying and
Pre-determination before any Bids are debated.
3.6
Members of the Board should contact Legal and Democratic Services
before a meeting if they have any doubt in their minds regarding a
potential Disclosable Pecuniary
Interest (DPI).
3.7
All members of the Board must avoid reaching a judgement before all
relevant evidence is presented to the Board. All sitting Board
members must ensure that they never give the impression of closing
their minds to information relevant to the Bid.
4. Quorum
4.1
The quorum shall be 5 members.
5.
Board structure, procedures and speaking protocol
(“Local Member” means a member of the
District Council whose ward, in the opinion of the Chairman, is
affected by a bid which is to be included on an agenda for
consideration by the CIL Spending Board.)
5.1 At
the beginning of the meeting the Chairman will move the
recommendation and indicate the Bids on which Local Members, the
Town or Parish Council, applicants or members of the public have
asked to speak, which shall
automatically be reserved for debate.
5.2
Officers will be invited to introduce a summary of CIL at the
beginning of the
meeting to include:
-
Summary of current CIL Legislation
-
Amount of funding available
-
Where CIL receipts have come from
5.3
The Chairman will read out each project title.
5.4
The officer will introduce the bid then lay out the key
considerations and summarise the recommendation for each
bid.
5.5
Speakers who have previously registered will be invited to do so by
the Chairman in the following
order for a maximum of 3 minutes (Local Members will have 4
minutes):
·
company/person/body responsible for the
Bid
·
A member of the public wishing to speak for the
Bid.
·
A member of the public wishing to speak against the
Bid
·
The Local Council representative.
·
The Local Member
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Chairman retains discretion to
allow additional speakers as s/he sees fit.
5.6
Those wishing to speak must contact the District Council before 5pm
on the day of
the Spending Board at the latest. However at the Chairman’s
discretion, late registration
maybe accepted until the start of the
meeting.
5.7
The company/person/body submitting the Bid will be expected to
present their Bid to the Spending Board. A bid is likely to be
deferred if the
Board considers that they reasonably require further
information in order to determine it.
5.8 Speakers are
allowed visual aids (of up to 5 slides).
5.9
Members of the Spending Board will then have an opportunity to ask
questions of
clarification of the Speakers present.
5.10 Members
of the Spending Board will then have an opportunity to ask
questions of
the officers present.
5.11
Discussion of each Bid will then take place. Any proposed changes
shall be treated as an amendment to
the motion and voted on
accordingly.
5.12 A
decision on the motion will only be made at the end of the
meeting after all the Bids have been discussed. This ensures that
every bid is considered and discussed
before any decision is made.
5.13 The
Board can only consider the bid put before them and the details
provided by
the applicant. This means that the Board cannot amend any details
of the bid or the amount of money awarded at the meeting.
They can
only agree, refuse or defer if they consider more
information is needed or that further investigation is required to
be
carried out in regard to the costs of the project.
5.14
Each bid should be given the following
considerations during the decision
making process:
·
Whether sufficient evidence has been provided to
demonstrate a strong social, environmental or economic
justification for the scheme.
-
Whether sufficient evidence has been provided to
demonstrate a strong link between new development and the
scheme.
·
Whether sufficient evidence has been submitted to
show that the project involves partnership working.
·
Whether the scheme forms part of a planned, local,
economic or community strategy to
address the need for local or strategic infrastructure.
·
Whether sufficient evidence has been provided to
show the clear public benefit to the scheme.
·
Whether sufficient evidence has been provided to
show that funding has been maximised from other funding
sources.
·
Whether there is sufficient certainty that the
scheme will be delivered, including considering whether the project
has all the necessary permissions in place and evidence has been
provided to demonstrate that there are sufficient maintenance
arrangements in place.
·
Whether the scheme has local support.
·
Whether the project has already benefited from CIL
through the Parish and Town Councils.
·
Whether overall the scheme provides a strong
community benefit.
5.15 After all the
bids have been considered individually and any amendments made, a
vote will take place on the motion / substantive motion and the
Chairman will advise the meeting of the result.
5.16 Board
meetings to be held at the Chairman’s discretion taking into
account the level of CIL income.
5.17 The above
arrangements shall be reviewed after 12 months.