CIL – Public/private consortium pleased that Government has listened But all parties must continue to work together if new system is to succeed A unique consortium comprising key public and private sector organisations today welcomed the amended regulations for the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). The group has worked closely with Government over the last two years to ensure that the regulations provide a pragmatic and flexible way forward to the implementation of CIL. However, the consortium has made it clear to Government that the Regulations are only the start of the process. The associated guidance, still to be produced, will be critical to ensuring a smooth transition to CIL from the current Section 106 process. This transition will require a change of approach from everyone involved in the delivery of development and infrastructure itself, whether in the public or the private sector, and all members of the consortium have pledged to work together with Government to enable a realistic and pragmatic approach towards the setting, charging and paying of CIL. Speaking on behalf of the consortium, Liz Peace, Chief Executive of the British Property Federation said: “We have all worked extremely hard with the Government to steer the regulations in the right direction. Whilst they are far from perfect they look a lot better than the original proposals. The key now is to ensure that if CIL is implemented it is done in a sensible manner which encourages development rather than hinders it.” Andrew Whitaker, Planning Director for The Home Builders Federation added; “A new approach requires new minds and ideas. All parties are going to have to work together if the potential benefits of CIL are to be realised. We all believe that CIL should make a real improvement to the approach to funding and, more importantly, delivery, of community infrastructure whilst providing the development we know this country needs.” Cllr Gary Porter, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Environment Board, said: "These rules will make it easier for councils and developers to provide schools, community centres and other important local facilities when new developments are built. There is a lot of work to do on implementation, but it is good that ministers have listened to councils and developers and made sure Town Halls have the flexibility to work with developers to get important projects off the ground." David Hackforth, President of the Planning Officers Society commented: “The property and building industries and local government were united in favouring a tariff approach rather than the Planning Gain Supplement. With CIL we have such an approach and we have all been keen to see regulations that would make it a workable system to deliver necessary infrastructure without deterring development.” - Ends - For media enquiries, or to arrange an interview, please contact (Steve Turner on 020 7960 1606 / 07919 307 760 or steve.turner@hbf.co.uk or Jonathan Seager assistant Director (Planning) British Property Federation 020 7802 0126 jseager@bpf.org.uk Notes to Editors: 1. The Consortium comprises of: The Home Builders Federation; The British Property Federation; The Major Developers Group; The Local Government Association; and The Planning Officers Society 2. The Home Builders Federation (HBF) is the principal representative body for private sector home builders and voice of the home building industry in England and Wales. The HBF’s 300 member firms account for some 80% of all new homes built in England and Wales in any one year, and include companies of all sizes, ranging from multi-national, household names through regionally based businesses to small local companies: www.hbf.co.uk 3. The British Property Federation (BPF) is the voice of property in the UK, representing companies owning, managing and investing in property. This includes a broad range of businesses – commercial property owners, the financial institutions and pension funds, corporate landlords, local private landlords – as well as all those professions that support the industry. 4. The Planning Officers Society represents the most senior professionals and managers of planning functions in the English Local Authorities. The Society's aim is to ensure that planning makes a major contribution to achieving sustainable developments, from national to local level, in ways, which are fair and equitable and achieve the social economic and environmental aspirations of all sectors of the community. www.planningofficers.org.uk/ 5. The Local Government Association is the single voice for local government. As a voluntary membership body, funded almost entirely by the subscriptions of our 424 member authorities in England and Wales, we lobby and campaign for changes in policy and legislation on behalf of our member councils and the people and communities they serve. We work with and on behalf of our membership to deliver our shared vision of an independent and confident local government sector, where local priorities drive public service improvement in every city, town and village and every councillor acts as a champion for their ward and for the people they represent.
