Issue - meetings

Issue - meetings

Growth Board: Budget 2017 and Housing and Growth Deal

Meeting: 11/06/2018 - Oxfordshire Growth Board (Item 98)

98 Housing and Growth Deal Delivery Plan update report June 2018 pdf icon PDF 103 KB

Purpose: to update the Board on progress with the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal (the Deal), agreed with Government earlier this year.

 

Recommendations:

 

That the Growth Board note the progress towards the Housing and Growth Deal Milestones as set out in the agreed Delivery Plan.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Board considered a report setting out progress on meeting the targets of the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal.

 

They noted the advice of officers that the Deal Team were twin tracking both the mobilisation and initial delivery phases of a large and complex programme and that whist progress was being made the Board should not underestimate the challenges this was posing to the Programme.

 

Notwithstanding this all relevant key milestones committed to in the Deal had been met in the 10 weeks since the Deal was signed. There are ongoing discussions and work to create sufficient capacity and recruit staff to deliver the outcomes in the Deal; and a further update would be given at the July meeting including the first of the quarterly performance reports required by the Deal . 

 

The Growth Board noted the progress towards the Housing and Growth Deal Milestones as set out in the agreed Delivery Plan.

 


Meeting: 26/04/2018 - Oxfordshire Growth Board (Item 84)

84 Housing and Growth Deal - approval of Draft Statement of Common Ground pdf icon PDF 39 KB

Purpose: To outline the draft Statement of Common Ground that has been prepared in line with the commitments made by the Oxfordshire partners through the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal.

 

Recommendations:

 

That the Growth Board note the report and the attached draft Statement of Common Ground.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Board considered a report setting out the submitted draft Statement of Common Ground.

 

Giles Hughes introduced the report, noting that it would be finalised after the new NPPF was published and it would be subject to at least annual review.

 

The Growth Board noted the report and endorsed the attached Statement of Common Ground.


Meeting: 27/03/2018 - Oxfordshire Growth Board (Item 70)

70 Housing and Growth Deal Delivery Plan update report March 2018 pdf icon PDF 160 KB

Purpose: to update the Board on progress with the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal (the Deal), agreed between Government and the Oxfordshire partners earlier this year and to seek approval of the year one programmes for infrastructure and affordable housing.

 

Recommendations:

 

i.      That the Growth Board notes the progress towards the Housing and Growth Deal Milestones as set out in the Delivery Plan; and

 

ii.    That the Growth Board endorses the year one programmes for affordable housing and infrastructure delivery as agreed by the Oxfordshire Partners.

Minutes:

The Board considered a report on progress with the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal (the Deal), agreed between Government and the Oxfordshire partners and the proposed year one programmes for infrastructure and affordable housing.

 

Caroline Green introduced the report and the Year 1 infrastructure and affordable housing delivery plans and milestones agreed by the partner authorities.

She reported in her presentation and in answer to questions that:

·         the Deal was now moving into the implementation phase, and the first posts to create the capacity and resources to deliver this were advertised and appointments made;

·         the delivery plan would be updated to take account of the outcome of the Housing Infrastructure Fund bids and other future funding deals, which if successful (so financing  became available for those currently allocated Deal monies) would allow projects lower down the list to be funded by the Deal;

·         the Year 1 plan was based on the criteria in the report and the agreed OXIS projects and deliverability and some funding was allocated to enhance projects already scheduled or underway to ensure early gains from the Deal programme;

·         a more fully balanced 3-year programme would be developed

·         the draft Statement of Common Ground for the JSSP would be presented to the April meeting: this would remain draft until the new NPPF was in place and then, subject to any consequential changes, would be put to each district council for adoption;

·         alongside this the outcome of work with MHCLG on planning freedoms and flexibilities would be presented to the Board and adopted by partner councils in July;

 

Kevin Bourner, Homes England, noted that this was the first such Growth Deal.  Homes England was conducting high-level ‘due diligence’ on the delivery plan and would undertake an agreed monitoring role, including understanding the links between OXIS and housing delivery and how these affected milestones.

 

Board members commented:

·         There was an absence of any measure of success or measure of identifying the specific benefits arising from the Deal, and noted that internal and public targets for delivery and achievement would be set.

·         In terms of mitigating the impact of developments, the detailed relationship between S106 agreements, CIL, and subsidy from the Deal and other funding needed to be understood: but it was noted that at a general level this this could not be set out in detail as it depended on individual scheme’s negotiations.

·         It was crucial to have the correct skill and knowledge in place to ensure delivery was possible.

 

 

 

The Growth Board resolved:

 

i.      to note the progress towards the Housing and Growth Deal Milestones as set out in the Delivery Plan; and

 

ii.    to endorse the year one programmes for affordable housing and infrastructure delivery as agreed by the Oxfordshire Partners.

 


Meeting: 01/02/2018 - Oxfordshire Growth Board (Item 56)

56 Housing and Growth Deal - delivery plan update pdf icon PDF 108 KB

Purpose: to update the Board on the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal and the development of the delivery plan, prior to a formal report and the outline delivery plan being submitted to individual Councils in February for agreement.

 

This will be a verbal update with a presentation: there may be a report published after this agenda.

Minutes:

Caroline Green reported that Government’s feedback on the final draft of the Delivery Plan was expected shortly and then each council would be asked to consider and decide whether to approve the Deal and Delivery Plan at a series of special co-ordinated council meetings in February.

 

In approving the Deal councils would be cognisant of the fact that the proposed draft revised NPPF (National Planning Policy Framework) could impact the planning freedoms and the arrangements for the JSSP agreed within the Deal , The Deal brings significant investment in several work strands supporting housing and infrastructure , productivity including skills.

 

Kevin Bourner, Homes England, outlined the ongoing work on the HIF bids and noted that the Deal puts Oxfordshire in a relatively advantageous position with regard to the HIF Forward Funding Bids. A decision on shortlisting for these bids was expected in March

 

Board members commented that:

·         The Deal was a good start, if with limited funding, and a credit to the work by officers, and was ready to put to each council for consideration.

·         The funds should be seen as a down-payment.

·         There were concerns over potential changes resulting from the revised NPPF including the impact of any new flexibility.

·         The Board needed to ensure that there was no penalty for failure to meet targets due to uncontrollable factors and officers were asked to ensure appropriate wording in the Deal to this effect

·         Considerable progress had been made since the announcement in November but the detail and delivery mechanism was not certain yet. Methods for calculating successful delivery were key. The Board welcomed the fact that there was potential for further funding since the Deal whilst significant was only  a small percentage of the requirements and did not for example address the costs of non-transport infrastructure.

 

The Growth Board resolved:

 

1.    to note the ongoing conversations around the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal and delivery plan and the comments at this meeting

 

2.    to endorse the progress made on the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal and recommend this to the Oxfordshire Partners subject to satisfactory completion of the Delivery Plan.


Meeting: 30/11/2017 - Oxfordshire Growth Board (Item 45)

45 Housing and Growth Deal pdf icon PDF 1 MB

Gordon Mitchell and/or Caroline Green, Oxford City Council will give a presentation.

 

Purpose: to inform and allow the Board to discuss any announcements in the 2017 Budget about the Housing and Growth Deal or other funding for the County, and to set out the implications and/or recommendations to partner councils and/or OXLEP for support.

 

Minutes:

Caroline Green gave a presentation setting out the main points from the Housing and Growth Deal announced in the Autumn Statement then Councillors asked questions and commented.

 

The presentation is available as a supplement to the minutes.

 

In summary the presentation and discussion covered:

1.    The deal provided £215m subject to meeting milestones in an agreed delivery plan. There were commitments required from both sides.

2.    Both the NIC and the National Industrial Strategy were developing plans for the Oxford-Cambridge corridor.

3.    The Board would need to discuss and agree a framework for key elements of growth, maximising funding and sourcing new funds, and setting up a pipeline of ready-to-go infrastructure schemes. The agreed OXIS plan was key to managing this.

4.    The initial terms of the deal set out a requirement for a high-level agreement between DCLG and the six councils and OxLEP and a delivery plan to be agreed by 31 January 2018. This was a very ambitious timetable.

5.    Discussions on the content and details of the delivery plan (and the capacity, resources and governance requirements for each stage) were already underway with Leaders and senior officers of all councils.

6.    The HCA (rebranding as Homes England) would work with the Board to secure the delivery plan..

7.    The location, delivery and associated planning for the headline number of 100,000 homes would be through a joint statutory spatial plan (JSSP). This will set the strategic framework within which local plans will demonstrate how the homes will be delivered.

 

The Board noted the presentation and comments.

 

 


Meeting: 30/11/2017 - Oxfordshire Growth Board (Item 44)

44 Budget 2017 - implications for Oxfordshire pdf icon PDF 92 KB

Gordon Mitchell and/or Caroline Green, Oxford City Council will give a presentation.

 

Purpose: to inform and allow the Board to discuss any announcements in the 2017 Budget relevant to the Board’s work.

 

Minutes:

Gordon Mitchell gave a presentation setting out the main points to note from the Autumn Budget statement not covered elsewhere on the agenda; then Councillors asked questions and commented.

 

The presentation is available as a supplement to the minutes.

 

In summary the presentation and discussion covered:

1.    There was increasing pressure on local authorities to plan at ambitious levels, and changes to the planning regime including a review and further relaxation of planning constraints.

2.    The real issue was delivery: there was extant land and permissions although the land supply was sometimes tight.

3.    On current progress, at least two council areas would fail to deliver the proposed housing delivery rates and these would just be met county-wide. Many large schemes would be delivered over time and developers were keeping to the approved schedules in planning consents.

4.    While there were proposals to lift the HRA cap in areas of high demand, there were no details.

5.    Changes to CIL and S106 were proposed along with a new Strategic Infrastructure Tariff, but these may not have the ability to provide large sums without changing the methodology of calculating land values or viability. There was a likely initial uplift in land values along the corridor.

6.    Gordon Mitchell concluded by noting the scale of the budgets proposals and the potential for Oxfordshire but noted the need for sufficient officer capacity to deliver the requirements of the Growth Deal and the changes proposed.

 

The Board noted the presentation and comments.