<p> Part 1 ITEM NO.4.2</p><p>______</p><p>REPORT OF STRATEGIC DIRECTOR ENVIRONMENT & COMMUNITY SAFETY ______</p><p>TO THE ASSISTANT MAYOR FOR STRATEGIC PLANNING </p><p>ON 14 MAY 2013 ______</p><p>TITLE: Draft Education Contributions Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) ______</p><p>RECOMMENDATION:</p><p>It is recommended that the Assistant Mayor for Strategic Planning: i) Approves the draft Education Contributions Supplementary Planning Document for the purposes of public consultation. ii) Endorses the determination statement that no sustainability appraisal or strategic environmental assessment of the Education Contributions Supplementary Planning Document is required. ______</p><p>EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:</p><p>An Education Contributions Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) is being prepared in order to provide additional guidance on the city council’s approach to seeking contributions towards education infrastructure provision from new housing development within the city. </p><p>This approach will ensure that new housing development makes a proportionate contribution to meeting the additional requirement for education provision that it will generate.</p><p>Approval of the Assistant Mayor for Strategic Planning is sought for the draft SPD for the purposes of public consultation in May – July 2013. ______</p><p>BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS: n/a ______</p><p>KEY DECISION: YES </p><p>D:\Docs\2018-04-03\0b61c5037934c8c54d9e56c295715707.doc The Education Contributions SPD will have implications for Salford at a citywide level and will therefore impact on two or more wards. The decision has been published on the Forward Plan. ______</p><p>DETAILS:</p><p>1 Background</p><p>1.1 An Education Contributions Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) is being prepared in order to provide additional guidance on the city council’s approach to seeking contributions towards education infrastructure provision from new housing development within the city. Saved policy DEV5 of the Salford unitary development plan (UDP) provides the policy basis for requiring such contributions.</p><p>1.2 Salford is facing a significant increase in the demand for primary school places, and this demand is projected to continue to increase in future years. There is insufficient capacity within existing schools to meet this requirement, and the city council will therefore need to create additional pupil places to meet its statutory obligations in this regard. This will require significant capital investment in the expansion of existing schools and may require the establishment of new schools. </p><p>1.3 The Education Contributions SPD will provide guidance on the city council’s approach to raising financial contributions via planning obligations under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended). The contributions raised will be directed to funding works associated with addressing the increased pressure on existing school provision that a development will generate. </p><p>1.4 This approach will ensure that new housing development makes a proportionate contribution to meeting the additional requirement for education provision that it will generate.</p><p>2 Key elements of the proposed approach </p><p>2.1 The draft Education Contributions SPD proposes the following approach to seeking contributions towards education infrastructure:</p><p>Standard financial contribution</p><p>2.2 As set out in Policy EC1 of the draft SPD, in the majority of instances, the city council will seek a financial contribution from new housing development. The threshold for seeking contributions is development that comprises 10 or more houses.</p><p>2.3 Apartments, one-bedroom houses, and non-family units are proposed to be exempt from making contributions, on the basis that the available evidence </p><p>D:\Docs\2018-04-03\0b61c5037934c8c54d9e56c295715707.doc demonstrates that these types of accommodation result in a very limited / nil requirement for additional primary pupil places.</p><p>2.4 In relation to houses, the draft SPD proposes that contributions are sought proportionately in relation to the number of bedrooms within a house, as the available evidence demonstrates a clear positive correlation between the average primary pupil yield and the number of bedrooms within a house. </p><p>Proposed general approach</p><p>2.5 In the first instance the city council will seek to direct investment associated with increasing the number of pupil places towards strengthening Salford’s established education base. The expansion of existing schools will therefore be the city council’s first preference where practicable. In certain instances however, seeking a financial contribution will not of itself be sufficient to enable the city council to increase school capacity locally, as it may be the case that existing schools cannot be expanded further and there are no other nearby sites in the city council’s ownership which could accommodate a new school. Policy EC2 of the SPD sets out that the city council will require developers to set aside land and provide a new school where other options are not available.</p><p>2.6 Where a new school is to be provided, the city council will seek to work with developers to ensure that the establishment of any new school complements existing education provision across the city (as identified in paragraph 8.12 of the SPD). </p><p>Viability</p><p>2.7 As required by central government guidance and in line with the approach set out in the Planning Obligations SPD, the draft Education Contributions SPD recognises that the city council will negotiate reduced contributions where a developer can demonstrate that the cumulative effect of policy requirements and planning obligations would compromise development viability.</p><p>3 Consultation on Education Contributions SPD</p><p>3.1 The preparation of the draft Education Contributions SPD has been informed by a scoping consultation undertaken in December 2012 / January 2013. The Consultation Statement which has been prepared as a supporting document to the draft SPD provides a summary of the key issues raised by those making representations at the scoping consultation stage, and sets out a schedule of all representations made together with the city council’s response.</p><p>3.2 Detailed comments were received from seven stakeholders, including a number of developers and landowners. In general, stakeholders recognised the clear need to raise contributions towards education provision and the principle of the approach was not contested. Their comments related to the detailed implementation of the approach to raising contributions, in terms of how the value of the contribution should be calculated. Developers also </p><p>D:\Docs\2018-04-03\0b61c5037934c8c54d9e56c295715707.doc sought assurance that the city council would negotiate reduced contributions where viability appraisal demonstrated that the cumulative impact of the requirements would compromise scheme viability. </p><p>3.3 Subject to approval by the Assistant Mayor for Strategic Planning, the draft Education Contributions SPD will be subject to a six week period of public consultation from Friday 24 May to Friday 5 July 2013. </p><p>3.4 Representations submitted during this consultation period will be taken into account in informing the final version of the SPD, which will be taken via full council for formal adoption later this year. </p><p>4 Determination statement on the need for Sustainability Appraisal and / or Strategic Environmental Assessment</p><p>4.1 A screening assessment of the need to undertake a Sustainability Appraisal and / or Strategic Environmental Assessment of the Education Contributions SPD has been undertaken. This concluded that neither Sustainability Appraisal nor Strategic Enviromental Assessment is required. A determination statement setting out the basis for this conclusion has been prepared as a supporting document alongside the draft SPD. The Assistant Mayor for Strategic Planning is requested to formally endorse this determination statement. The city council will then notify the consultation bodies and publish the determination statement on its website, in accordance with the requirements of Regulation 11 of the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004. </p><p>5 Implication of raising contributions towards education provision</p><p>5.1 The nature of development values in Salford means that many housing schemes are only of marginal viability in current market conditions. Even for those schemes where viability is more favourable, there will necessarily be a ceiling on the level of financial contributions that a scheme can support. The city’s existing requirements in terms of the provision of affordable housing, taken together with the financial requirements set out in the Planning Obligations SPD could cumulatively push many development schemes beyond the margin of viability if the requirements were to be applied in full. It is therefore important to recognise that in requiring financial contributions towards education provision, in some instances this will only be achieved by an associated reduction in the contributions that are sought in relation to affordable housing, open space, public realm and/or other forms of contribution. The prioritisation of the various contributions will need to be agreed on a case by case basis whilst applications are under consideration and pending determination. ______</p><p>KEY COUNCIL POLICIES: City of Salford Unitary Development Plan 2004 – 2016: Saved Policies ______</p><p>D:\Docs\2018-04-03\0b61c5037934c8c54d9e56c295715707.doc COMMUNITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND IMPLICATIONS: A screening of the need to undertake a Community Impact Assessment of the draft Education Contributions SPD has been undertaken. A full CIA statement will be completed following the end of the formal consultation period and will inform the final version of the SPD. To inform the CIA, information on communities and people with protected characteristics will be gathered and relevant equality groups will be consulted where appropriate. The CIA will then be published alongside the SPD at the adoption stage. </p><p>______</p><p>ASSESSMENT OF RISK: MEDIUM</p><p>Salford is currently facing a significant increase in the demand for school places at the primary school level. The increase in demand for school places is creating very significant pressures at the primary school level, where many schools are either full or approaching capacity. </p><p>The purpose of the Education Contributions SPD is to raise financial contributions from new housing development within the city which will be directed to funding works associated with addressing the increased pressure on existing school provision that a development will generate.</p><p>If the city council does not raise contributions from new development, the city council would have to fund the capital works associated with the creation of additional school places arising from new housing development from its existing budgets. Whilst Policy DEV5 of the UDP forms the development plan policy basis for requiring contributions, the Education Contributions SPD will provide greater clarity to developers over when contributions will be sought, and the basis for calculating the contribution required. ______</p><p>SOURCE OF FUNDING: </p><p>The costs associated with the production of the Education Contributions SPD are very limited in scale (associated with the printing of the document) and will be met from existing revenue budgets. ______</p><p>LEGAL IMPLICATIONS:</p><p>Solicitors have been consulted. ______</p><p>FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: Stephen Bayley (Ext. 2584)</p><p>There are no immediate financial implications relating to this report, other than the costs of producing the SPD, as outlined above. However, in the longer term, adoption of the SPD may have funding implications for the future provision of schools.</p><p>D:\Docs\2018-04-03\0b61c5037934c8c54d9e56c295715707.doc ______</p><p>OTHER DIRECTORATES CONSULTED:</p><p>The Education Contributions SPD has been prepared in close liaison with Children’s Services Directorate. The draft SPD has been reported to the Primary Strategy Mayoral Working Party for information. ______</p><p>CONTACT OFFICER: Gareth Clegg TEL. NO. 0161 793 3269 ______</p><p>WARD(S) TO WHICH REPORT RELATE(S): ALL ______</p><p>D:\Docs\2018-04-03\0b61c5037934c8c54d9e56c295715707.doc</p>