Archived decisions

Contact: Ian Lawson, Strategic Planning Officer (01962 846350)

1. Summary

1.1 This report summarises the outcome of consultations and recommends that the Executive Member, Education should approve the appended policy statement "Developers' Contributions towards Education Facilities - March 2003".

2. Background

2.1 Over the past 10 years or so, there has been an acceptance that developers should contribute towards the cost of mitigating the impact of their development on local facilities and infrastructure. Central government guidance, set out in DETR Circular 1/97 and, more recently, with the publication in 2002 of consultation papers on proposed reforms of the planning system, indicates that it is reasonable for contributions to be requested towards education facilities required as a direct consequence of development. This can result in a significant addition to the capital resources available to address the need for additional school places and, in some cases, improvements to the suitability of existing provision to enable it to cater for increased demand. If all the contributions currently being negotiated are achieved, the capital programme could be enhanced by at least £2 million per year, and this will increase as the proposed major development areas (MDAs) come on stream.

3. Consultation with local planning authorities

3.1 Developers' contributions are negotiated as part of the process for the grant of planning permission for development. This is primarily a role of the local planning authority (District or Borough Council), although it is hoped that the County Council will be able to take a greater part in the future, as explained in paragraph 4.2 below. In order to assist district and borough planning officers (and their committees) to assess the need for, and amount of, contributions towards education facilities, a consultation paper was circulated in February 2002. Responses were received from most districts and their comments have been incorporated into a revised version, which is appended to this report. A number of specific issues were raised and details are given in the following paragraphs.

Threshold

3.2 Hitherto it has been normal practice to seek contributions towards primary school places in relation to developments (or a combination of sites in one settlement) of 100 units or more. This is the number that generates a demand for an additional primary school class. The growing trend towards infill and previously developed ("brownfield") sites within existing settlements has resulted in a larger number of smaller sites coming forward for development. Cumulatively, these can have a significant impact on the need for places, It is suggested, therefore, that the threshold for seeking contributions should be reduced to sites of 10 or more dwellings, and in relation to applications for individual dwellings where the availability of places is particularly critical. As it is now a normal expectation for a proportion of dwellings to be "affordable" there is no justification for excluding such from the requirement to contribute towards education - indeed it is likely that "affordable" housing would give rise to a higher demand for school places. It is, however, not unreasonable to exclude one bedroom units, and those designated specifically for elderly persons, from these calculations. This reduction in the threshold was generally accepted in responses to the consultation paper.

Suitability issues

3.3 In a number of cases, although a school may have nominal surplus capacity, in practice this may be used temporarily to house specialist facilities, such as for small groups of children with special educational needs. Also, some classrooms are not fully suitable for teaching a full class of 30 children. These are deficiencies that are identified in the school's Asset Management Plan Suitability Assessment. The consultation paper suggested that, where suitability deficiencies exist which would be exacerbated by an increased intake from development, this could be taken into account when calculating a reasonable level of contribution. This approach has been accepted by districts and in actual negotiations with developers.

Secondary schools

3.4 In the past, contributions have mainly been sought towards primary schools. There is, however, no reason why the same principles should not apply to secondary schools, where a direct impact can be shown. This is particularly applicable to larger developments and will be a significant factor with the MDAs and can be taken into account in negotiations with developers.

Other issues

3.4 A number of other issues were raised in the consultation paper. These included linking the contribution levels to the "cost multipliers" published by the DfES and the application of similar principles to pre-school facilities. No districts expressed adverse comments to these principles.

4. The way forward

4.1 It is recommended that the revised version of the paper be approved by the Executive Member, Education as a statement of the County Council's policy on education contributions. Individual local planning authorities can then be asked to apply these principles to current planning applications (indeed, this is already normal practice with most district and borough councils in the county). In appropriate cases, the policy can be incorporated into the district's own planning policy on contributions.

4.2 In addition, the County Council is developing a corporate approach towards contributions to all services where there is an impact from development. To this end, a corporate policy statement is being prepared, which addresses the needs of all services and proposes a coordinated, and more direct, approach to negotiations with developers. The intention is that this will, in due course, be adopted as Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG), which will give it greater weight when planning applications are being considered by the district and borough councils. The paper on education contributions would provide detailed justification as an appendix to the SPG.

Recommendation

That the Executive Member, Education be recommended to approve the appended policy statement "Developers' Contributions towards Education Facilities - March 2003" and that the principles be included in the proposed Supplementary Planning Guidance relating to contributions towards County Council services.

Section 100D - Local Government Act 1972 - Background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB: the list excludes:

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

Responses from consultations - on Education Department file