East Suffolk Council
Planning obligations monitoring fees
What the legislation and guidance say about planning obligation monitoring fees
Regulation 122 (2A) of the Community Infrastructure Levey (CIL) Regulations 2010 (as amended) permit local authorities to charge a fee for monitoring and reporting on planning obligations. The Regulation 122 tests do not apply in relation to a planning obligation which requires a sum to be paid to a local planning authority in respect of the cost of monitoring (including reporting) provided:
- the sum to be paid fairly and reasonably relates in scale and kind to the development, and
- the sum to be paid to the authority does not exceed the authority’s estimate of its cost of monitoring the development over the lifetime of the planning obligations which relate to that development.
The Planning Practice Guidance currently states the following in relation to charging planning obligation monitoring fees:
Authorities can charge a monitoring fee through section 106 planning obligations, to cover the cost of monitoring and reporting on delivery of that section 106 obligation. Monitoring fees can be used to monitor and report on any type of planning obligation, for the lifetime of that obligation. Monitoring fees should not be sought retrospectively for historic agreements.
Fees could be a fixed percentage of the total value of the section 106 agreement or individual obligation; or could be a fixed monetary amount per agreement obligation (for example, for in-kind contributions). Authorities may decide to set fees using other methods. However, in all cases, monitoring fees must be proportionate and reasonable and reflect the actual cost of monitoring. Authorities could consider setting a cap to ensure that any fees are not excessive.
East Suffolk Council monitoring fee
From 1 January 2023 East Suffolk Council will charge a monitoring fee of £445 per obligation trigger towards administration costs. The fee is based upon the occurrence of triggers for compliance of a planning obligation rather than each obligation individually. The monitoring fee is to be paid at completion of the s106 legal deed, to enable the council to cover the costs of monitoring the commencement of development or other pre commencement triggers. The fee will be periodically reviewed to ensure the administrative costs associated with monitoring and managing developer contributions are covered by the fee.
Where RAMS Habitats Mitigation payments are paid in advance of the planning permission and are not included within a s106 agreement, these obligations will not be subject to the monitoring fee.
East Suffolk monitoring and reporting activities
East Suffolk Council undertakes a number of monitoring activities in relation to planning obligations including:
- data entry and maintenance of planning obligations database and public facing module (Exacom/Exacom PFM)
- monitoring of trigger points for obligation actions and for receiving payments
- developer liaison and confirmation of compliance of obligations
- site visits, as required
- monitoring financial obligation time limits and spend
- calculation of indexation and interest applied to planning obligations
- the issuing of s106 Demand Notices (invoicing)
- processing of s106 payments
- chasing unpaid invoices
- arranging bank transfer of financial obligations
- contacting infrastructure providers and organising drawdowns
- ensuring timely delivery of infrastructure projects funded through s106
- gathering and recording of spend data evidence
- reviewing projects to comply with legal obligations
- monthly reconciliation of data
- regular reporting and production of the s106 Report, Infrastructure List and Infrastructure Funding Statement
East Suffolk Council's monitoring fee is based on an estimated number of planning obligations managed by the council annually, the percentage of officer time spent on the above activities per obligation and trigger, and the annual cost of software licences per obligation and trigger. Planning obligations will require some degree of the above activities even if they are triggered prior to commencement, therefore the approach ensures that the monitoring fee is fair and reasonable.