FUNDING NDP PROJECTS

Question

I have little experience of Neighbourhood Development Planning or its implications. I thought a neighbourhood development plan was a legal process that allowed communities to specify planning policies for their area and sat alongside the District Councils local plan. I am  interested in who pays for the various projects which come out of it.  Is the production of the NDP and the implementation of its contents considered a primary power in its own right or is it subject to the prevailing financial state of the the PC at the time i.e. whether it has the General Power of Competence or not.  Hope this makes sense

Answer 1

You should contact you LA who will have funding streams available to town and parish councils to (part) fund the production of an NDP from initial scoping through to adoption.  

DLuHC has designated funding available via LAs:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/neighbourhood-planning--2

The government committed an additional £7.1 million to the Neighbourhood Planning Support Programme on 25 July 2023.

The Neighbourhood Planning Support Programme, run by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (DLHUC), aims to support groups developing neighbourhood plans and neighbourhood development orders.  

The further funding brings the total funding to the Neighbourhood Planning Support Programme to over £47 million since 2018, allowing the scheme to continue for a sixth year into 2023/24. 

The programme offers Technical Support packages and grants. Technical Support provides evidence, advice, policy direction and process support for the early stage neighbourhood planning groups (not yet designated) or designated Qualifying Bodies (QBs- groups formally designated by a Local Planning Authority (LPA) to lead the production of a neighbourhood plan or neighbourhood development order (NDO)) which meet specific criteria set down by the government. 

The Neighbourhood Planning Support Programme reflects DLHUC's aim of levelling up communities, making them great places to live and work.   

Comments

Not entirely clear RAG . I understand what a NDP is but if as a consequence of the plan some works are undertaken/evolve  I am trying to get clear in my mind what criteria apply if the project is wholly PC funded i. e from the precept (if you don't have GPC)  .  For example if CIL money is used you can do more with that than you can with PC powers  money alone., Do the same rules apply as if the project hadn't been generated by the NDP?

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Why on earth would you wish to fund it from the precept when funding is available from central government? There will be sections of an NDP that will require using outside professional advice and reports which you may not have the skills within your community to meet. The concept of the NDP is to place on record for planners etc to highlight what your community wish to see happen with the development of their community( Neighbourhood development Plan)

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Well our NDP was produced sometime ago and contains the following   " It is appreciated that  funding for such improvements may be difficult in present economic circumstances,  although opportunities may well occur".   Currently project costs appear in our EMR for which we do not have statutory powers

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On the face of it, it is meaningless to have earmarked reserves for expenditure you don't have the legal power to incur. Is the issue here that you don't currently have GPC but might do in the future, which might alter the legal position?

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Our PC has never had GPC since the NDP was written about 10 years ago.  Associated with the NDP was a wish list of projects along with a statement that funding might come from CIL/S106/ Highways budgets etc etc ie all external money .  As the years have gone by most of the projects have been completed which we have mostly paid for .  There now remains one project in EMR  for which we do not have statutory powers to spend and should I believe be removed

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Check out the NALC site as they have an article regarding claiming funding for NDP today