At the Culture, Heritage, Sport, Tourism & Economic Development Committee meeting on 18 April councillors heard how £1.4 million of payments by developers are being invested in the city’s schools as part of planning permission legal agreements.
This is the first phase of injecting £4.1 million of developer contributions into infrastructure improvements to schools across Brighton & Hove.
In response to a request by Councillor Raphael Hill, a report to committee will give details of how the funds raised have been allocated to projects in primary and secondary schools to be spent this year.
The council raises these funds from developers through Section 106 legal agreements.
As well as providing additional funding for schools, Section 106 agreements can help fund affordable housing, local employment schemes, biodiversity net gain projects and public art. Each legal agreement with a developer specifies how the funds collected will be spent.
Committee Chair Councillor Alan Robins said: “We currently have around 200 live section 106 agreements being managed by our Planning Team. These agreements have generated £45 million for the city, of which over £27.5 million has already been spent or allocated to planned projects.
“We are committed to allocating and spending the balance on agreed priorities as soon as possible. The decision by the Children, Families and Schools Committee in February to use section 106 money to fund Alternative Provision projects in secondary schools is a good example of that.”
“We will continue to work with schools to target Section 106 investment as we address the impact of falling primary school numbers, rising levels of special educational needs and a need for a broader range of alternative provision in the city.”
Councillor Jacob Taylor, Chair of the Children, Families & Schools Committee, added: “We need to carefully consider how to best use Section 106 contributions as we meet the changing needs of children and young people and ensure that all pupils have the right environment to succeed.
“This funding will help deliver a lasting change for pupils now and in the future.”
Section 106 agreements ensure that developments support the cost of local improvements to benefit both their new residents and the existing community. They set out the financial and non-monetary contributions a developer must make, and the council decide how these will be used.
Since the introduction of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) in October 2000, we use Section 106 agreements to secure funding to address issues specific to each development site. CIL is collected to pay for off-site infrastructure improvements, such as new parks, and to address the cumulative impacts of development, for example on transport and schools.
The Committee will also be told about a new IT system being rolled out during April and May which will allow councillors and residents to find information about developer contributions.
Councillor Robins added: “Once access to the system has been provided, Brighton & Hove City Council will be one of only a handful of authorities in the country that has transparent access for residents to full information on income and expenditure in relation to both Section 106 and Community Infrastructure Levy payments we are raising from developers in their area.”
You can see more information and videos about how developer payments are improving local infrastructure in the city on our City Regeneration web pages.
