How parish and town councils can spend CIL
What can CIL be spent on?
The CIL Regulations 2010 (as amended) state that the parish or town council must spend the CIL income they receive from us on:
- the provision, improvement, replacement, operation or maintenance of infrastructure; or
- anything else that is concerned with addressing the demands that development places on an area
‘Infrastructure’ is a broadly defined in the Town and Country Planning Act 2008.
There are typically three broad categories of infrastructure:
- physical infrastructure - highways, transport links, cycleways, energy supply, water, flood alleviation, waste management
- social infrastructure - education, health, social care, emergency services, art and culture, sports halls, community halls
- green infrastructure - parks, woodlands, play areas, public open space
For examples of infrastructure items which can be provided or maintained by parish councils, please see our infrastructure items document. If you're unsure whether a scheme or project falls within this definition, please contact our CIL Officer for advice.
Providing CIL is spent in accordance with the above, CIL monies may be used to provide match funding with other income streams. CIL can be used collaboratively with community interest companies or other providers to make the most efficient use of funding to benefit the community.
The parish council (PC) should also work closely with their neighbouring councils, and us, to agree on infrastructure spending priorities. If the PC shares our priorities, they may agree that we, the Borough Council, should retain the CIL to spend on specific infrastructure. It may be that this infrastructure (eg, a school) is not in the parish, town or PC’s administrative area, but will support the development of the area.
Decisions on how the funds are spent are at the PC’s discretion, provided that it's in accordance with the CIL regulations.
Additional information
The parish/town council must notify our CIL Officer as soon as possible if it decides not to receive CIL.
If a PC has not applied the funds in accordance with the regulations, then we can serve a notice on the PC requiring it to repay some or all of the receipts that had been transferred to them. We'll then be required to spend any recovered funds in the PC’s area.
If the PC do not spend their CIL within five years of receipt, our CIL Officer may send a repayment notice. Exceptions may be made if the PC can show that they've allocated their CIL income to a particular project for which they are accumulating funds before spending.
If the PC receives a repayment notice, they must respond as required, and send the mis/un-spent CIL back to us as directed. In this instance we'll spend the returned CIL income on behalf of the PC.
If the PC is unable to repay the amount specified in the repayment notice, our CIL Officer will recover the amount from future CIL income the PC are due to receive.
When the PC become aware of development having commenced in their area, they may want to notify the CIL Officer to help with monitoring.