Communities and Local Government have published an update on the new infrastructure levy which has been designed to give local authorities extra resources to invest in vital infrastructure facilities, and to give developers greater certainty about their role and contribution.

Currently developers and councils have to negotiate individual planning agreements for each new project. As a consequence only a minority of developments have contributed to the infrastructure such as public services and social infrastructure to support the developments, which range from parks and roads to schools and hospitals.

The Levy will be a new charge which local authorities in England and Wales will be empowered, but not required, to charge on most types of new development in their area. CIL charges will be based on simple formulae which relates the size of the charge to the size and character of the development paying it. The proceeds of the levy will be spent on local and sub-regional infrastructure to support the development of the area.

The CIL is expected initially to raise hundreds of millions of pounds of extra funding per year towards the infrastructure that local communities need. While it will make a significant contribution to infrastructure provision, core public funding will continue to bear the main burden, and local authorities will need to utilise CIL alongside other funding streams to deliver infrastructure plans locally.

The publication is available from DCLG.

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/communityinfrastructurelevy.pdf