Issue - meetings

Report of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport (CET/24/49), with proposals for an exchange of funding between the Council and Teignbridge District Council for the A382 Major Road Network project, attached.

An Impact Assessment has also been previously prepared for the scheme, is attached, and can be found at - A382 MRN Improvement Scheme Impact Assessment August 2023).

RESOLVED

(a) that in principle the exchange of £4.85 million of Devon County Council recovered Housing Infrastructure Fund receipts at South West Exeter for £4.85 million from the Teignbridge District Council Community Infrastructure Levy towards the A382 Major Road Network scheme, be approved; and

(b) that the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport be given delegated authority to enter into a Funding Agreement with Teignbridge District Council, subject to the A382 Major Road Network scheme Full Business Case approval.

(Councillor Leaver attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport (CET/24/49), which outlined proposals for changing funding sources from the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) with the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), circulated prior to the meeting in accordance with regulation 7(4) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

In October 2023, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced additional funding would be made available to eligible Major Road Network (MRN) schemes. In February 2024, the Council submitted the Full Business Case (FBC) for The Scheme (Cabinet report CET/23/82 of 8 November 2023). The FBC included a proposed funding profile featuring an uplift in Government funding from Network North which was assumed to cover all costs outlined in the Outline Business Case (OBC).

From discussions with the DfT since February 2024, the additional contribution from the Government through Network North was matched directly to the value of the local authority contributions proposed in the OBC (submitted in 2019), however, it was not applicable to funding originating from other Government departments or developers through Section 106. In the case of The Scheme, this additional funding would not cover the sum of £4.85 million originating from the recovered money from developers at the South West Exeter HIF site. The DfT has confirmed that CIL money was eligible for match from Network North. 

The Council therefore proposed to swap £4.85 million of recovered money from the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) with the equivalent amount from the Teignbridge District Council (TDC) Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). 

With the increased inflationary costs experienced between the OBC and the FBC, the additional DfT contribution was necessary to ensure the delivery of the full A382 MRN scheme. The change in funding source should enable DCC to secure the maximum amount of additional funding from the DfT and enable a decision on the Full Business Case to be made. 

The alternative option of not swapping the funding source would result in The Scheme having to be descoped further and additional work undertaken to revise the FBC and designs.

No specific equality impacts had been identified for the recommendations outlined in the Report; however, an Impact Assessment had been previously prepared for the scheme and had been considered in the 8^th November 2023 (CET/23/82) Cabinet Report A382 MRN Improvement Scheme Impact Assessment August 2023).

The matter having been debated and the options and alternatives and other relevant factors (e.g. financial, sustainability and carbon impact, risk management, equality and legal considerations and alignment with the Council’s Strategic Plan) set out in the Director’s Report having been considered:

it was MOVED by Councillor Davis, SECONDED by Councillor McInnes, and

RESOLVED

(a) that in principle the exchange of £4.85 million of Devon County Council recovered Housing Infrastructure Fund receipts at South West Exeter for £4.85 million from the Teignbridge District Council Community Infrastructure Levy towards the A382 Major  ...  view the full minutes text for item 574