How Mendip District Council proposes to allocate its spending of the New Homes Bonus has come in for some criticism recently in Frome due to concern that a greater share of the Bonus should be allocated to local infrastructure improvements to help towns cope with the demands of residents of the new homes planned for, and that a fair proportion of that slice should come to projects in Frome, where about 25% of the new homes proposed in the draft Mendip Local Plan are to built over the next 20 years or so – see town councillor Nick White’s petition here http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/mendip-district-council-allocate-frome-its-fair-share-of-the-new-home-bonus

There was no public consultation on the New Homes Protocol before the Council approved it. I recently asked the Council whether there can be public consultation on how the New Homes Bonus will be allocated in future before further decisions are made.  The answer I received dodges the question somewhat about any future consultation on the principles of the New Homes Bonus allocation (the Protocol) but it really means that No, Mendip’s Cabinet are not going to agree to any consultation on the allocation in principle.  The answer focuses on how consultation will be undertaken on how to allocate 31% of the Bonus, i.e. how Legacy Projects and local environmental projects, will be identified for funding.  It also ignores the questions and concerns raised in February’s full Council about the Protocol itself.

I’ll be asking more questions on this, so there will be more to follow.

BACKGROUND:

Mendip’s New Homes Bonus Protocol was approved in February at a full council meeting. The Protocol stated that “it is intended that funds will be allocated in the following key areas over the period 2012/13 to 2016/17.  Since exact figures are not know we have chosen to allocate percentages of spend to these areas:

• Projects that bring in future revenue income for the council to reduce its reliance on government funding – 40%
• Legacy projects that meet the key council priorities – 30%
• Capacity building within the organisation to build internal resilience – 4%
• Targeted support of front line service provision which might otherwise be lost – 25%
• Small scale local projects to improve communities environments – 1%”

As reported at the time, cllr Richard Pinnock (Lib Dem, Frome Keyford) argued for a greater proportion of the money to be directed towards local projects, but this idea was defeated by the Conservative group in a vote, 27 votes to 10. I also recall that Frome Town Council leader Mel Usher asked for there to be consultation before further years’ allocations were decided upon (see here, Minutes and Item 12 and Appendix: http://www.mendip.gov.uk/CommitteeMeeting.asp?id=SX9452-A7836EF0). 

Since then, Mendip’s Cabinet considered and approved the way that the New Homes Bonus would be spent on Legacy Projects (via a Legacy Project Board made up largely of local councillors) and local small-scale projects (1%, which local ward councillors will identify for their areas) – see http://www.mendip.gov.uk/CommitteeMeeting.asp?id=SX9452-A783A1F1.

As there has not been any consultation on the Protocol, I raised a question about the need for public consultation and more information about how Mendip spends its New Homes Bonus in future, so that there can be greater transparecy as to how the council spends our money.

My Question to Mendip District Council, 5 November 2012 was: 

“To inform the Council’s next annual review of the key areas and allocation of the New Homes Bonus, and as a New Homes Bonus officer will be employed by the Council shortly to manage the allocation of the New Homes Bonus, can the Council now plan to actively consult and engage with the community on the options and choices available in relation to how the New Homes Bonus funding should be spent in future, in line with the Council’s Community Engagement Strategy (November 2011)?  I note that other local authorities have actively engaged with residents to identify and agree local priorities for the New Homes Bonus to fund, but that this Council adopted the New Homes Bonus Protocol, and progressed further detail, without any community engagement. There is now considerable community interest in this issue, as a number of residents and councillors are asking for a higher proportion of the Bonus received from the Government to be spent on local infrastructure projects to improve the places that the Mendip District Local Plan will allocate more housing development towards, to help these areas cope with the allocated new housing development, as many believe the Government intended. Therefore can the Council consult the community on its preferred option (the current proportions of the Bonus going towards ‘legacy’ projects, small scale local infrastructure projects, frontline services, future revenue stream projects, and capacity building for internal resilience) and the relative merits of the alternatives the Cabinet considered, in order to show that it is prepared to inform, consult, and listen to the views of, the community?”

The response I received is below.
MENDIP DISTRICT COUNCIL’S RESPONSE, 9 November 2012:

“The Council has now appointed to the New Homes Bonus Development Officer post and once the officer commences work we will be in a position to being engaging with the community more actively with regards to spending the funds. Where relevant we will be engaging with the community in line with the corporate strategy to ensure that all parts of the community have an opportunity to gain benefit from the money gained by the District and I have indicated, in italics below, the elements of activity that fit with the ‘what we will do’  statement in the strategy.  As you will be aware the government have stated quite clearly that this money can be spent on anything the Council feels appropriate including reducing council tax or providing front line services. Contact with other colleagues around the country indicates that a vast number are using it in total to prop up their revenue pot and provide services. Many members of the community mistakenly think that this is new money coming to the Council when in fact this money has been created through top slicing of the Comprehensive Spend Review monies for the earlier years and siphoning from the formula grants budget from then on. In essence the government has cut the grants to local councils, which are intended to provide services, on the understanding that they can have the cut back (via NHB) if they build more homes. As a consequence of this we have had to look long and hard at how we spend the money to ensure that front line services now, and in the future, can be protected in the face of reducing central government support.  We believe that we have found a good middle ground in our approach of using some of this money to protect services and asking Members and communities to direct the spend of the rest, but we have to be pragmatic about the fact that government could implement cuts that mean we have to reconsider our position in order to protect the services we provide to the community. The NHB Protocol and the development paper were both public papers that went to Cabinet and Members received no feedback from any of the parishes and Towns or members of the public, up to or on the night, that indicated that the proposals needed altering.Infrastructure needs coming out of new housing developments will be addressed via section 106 and, in the future, Community Infrastructure Levy, with the Local Plan addressing wider community requirements of shops, schools, traffic etc as part of this and directing where this money must be spent to support the communities affected. The aim of the council now is to allow communities, and their Member representatives,  to now influence where NHB funds can be used to leave a lasting legacy for communities and also improve the local environment for people. In this way the community views can be heard by Members and they will make their decisions based on what they see and hear. 

Extract from Community Engagement Strategy:

– What we will do Develop a communications strategy and action plan – the New Homes Bonus Officer Development Officer will create a comms plan for the way we promote NHB and its allocation.

– Publicise opportunities to get actively involved and work with us  – this will be carried out by the New Homes Bonus Development Officer

– Explain the purpose and scope of any engagement activity, the different options up for consideration and all relevant background information – An explanation of the legacy projects fund and the local environmental improvements fund will be promoted to the community along with an explanation of how they can get involved and what the options are.  In addition there will be publicity around how the money has been allocated.

– Explain the decision making process – how it works, who has the final say, how and to what extent their views will influence the decision or outcome – The decisions for allocation will be made against the published criteria, with the decisions being made by members for both pots.

– Provide information about our actions and decisions, including any opportunities to comment or appeal and what action people can take if we don’t deliver – This will be picked up by the comments above.

– Disseminate findings from engagement to all who can act on them, internally and externally – This will be picked up by the comms plan.”

In response I replied: 

“I think the response is currently misleading in part, in that there was indeed a full debate and a question from the public about the New Homes Bonus Protocol when it was discussed and agreed by Full Council in February 2012. The Protocol I refer to formed paragraphs 20-32 of the Medium Term Resource Strategy for 2012/13 to 2014/15 and Financial Plan for 2012/13, and paragraph 29 explained how ‘it is intended that funds will be allocated in the following key areas over the period 2012/13 to 2016/17…’.  There was much debate on the Protocol, in cllr Pinnock’s speech and the discussion and vote which followed concerning my group’s proposal to increase the allocation for local projects. I also recall Frome Town Council’s leader Mel Usher asking for a higher allocation for local infrastructure projects and for there to be consultation with town councils before the next year’s allocation was decided.  In August, Cabinet agreed further how to implement the Protocol including ways of allocating funds for legacy projects and local projects but it did not review the overall Protocol again and simply referred back to the Protocol approved in February.  So I think it is misleading to state that there was no feedback from councillors or the public that the Protocol needed altering, as there was much of that in February. 
 
The New Homes Bonus Protocol within the Medium Term Resource Strategy, states at paragraph 32: ‘While this protocol outlines our intentions for the first cycle of the NHB it is recognised that the rapidly changing local government environment means that priorities may alter. As a consequence an annual review of the key areas and the allocated resources will take place as part of the Council’s annual strategic planning process to ensure that these allocations are still appropriate’.  It is this annual review to which I was referring in my question. I acknowledge that the new New Homes Bonus officer will be tasked with communicating to the public how the Council intends to allocate the fund on Legacy projects (via projects approved by a Legacy Project Board) and local projects (via councillors), to increase awareness and ensure public input to those. However I would be disappointed if the opportunity to engage with town, city and parish councils and the community at large on the options available for the NHB Protocol (the allocation proportions) is not going to be taken during the forthcoming annual review.  I would also like to understand better how the Legacy Project Board will ensure a fair distribution of the project funding across the district.

Please can you therefore clarify what is to be reviewed, and how, during the required annual review of the New Homes Bonus Protocol?”

FURTHER ANSWER FROM MENDIP DISTRICT COUNCIL, 13 NOVEMBER 2012:

“The comment about feedback has been misunderstood; it was not meant to be misleading.  Whilst there were comments made, and it is recognised and recorded that comments were made at Full Council, it is was nevertheless the view of the Council that these did not provide information that indicated that there needed to be a change to the protocol as proposed. As Cllr Boyden correctly quotes the MTRS states that there will be an annual review of the key areas and allocated resources for the New Homes Bonus Protocol as part of the Council’s annual strategic planning process to ensure that these allocations are still appropriate. As part of the review therefore the key areas for allocation will be reconsidered to see if they still fit with the corporate priorities and direction of the council and also the breakdown of distribution of funds as currently identifed will also be reviewed. The aim of this review is to allow the Council flexibility in its use of the funds. As previously explained this money has been created through the top slicing of the Comprehensive Spend Review monies for the earlier years and siphoning from the formula grants budget from then on. This means that the government has cut the grants to local councils, which are intended to provide services, on the understanding that they can have the cut back (via NHB) if they build more homes. While we believe that we have found a good middle ground in our approach of using some of this money to protect services and asking Members and communities to direct the spend of the rest, unlike many councils who have used all of the funds to support front line services. We have to however be realistic and recognise that government could implement cuts at the end of the year that mean we have to reconsider our position in order to protect the services we provide to the community. The annual review date would be February, as it would be a year from the MTRS being adopted, but in reality a review of the protocol will begin in the new year as part of the MTRS process.”

So, I hope to hear more when the New Homes Bonus officer starts work soon, and during the Council’s review of the Protocol in the New Year.

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