IMPLEMENTING CIL –
BRISTOL’S EXPERIENCE
Jim Cliffe
Planning Obligations Manager
Bristol City Council
Bristol’s CIL Programme
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Aug 2011 – commission viability study
Oct 2011 – receive final viability study
28 Nov 2011 to 20 Jan 2012 – Preliminary Draft
Charging Schedule consultation
2 to 30 March 2012 – Draft Charging Schedule
consultation
18 April 2012 – submit to PINS
20 and 21 June 2012 – CIL Examination
12 July 2012 – receive examiners report
CIL Costs
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Viability Study, Examination, Statutory
Notices, Programme Officer, Consultation
Events etc - £41,000
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Officer time – 750 hours over 11 months
Tip No. 1 – Infrastructure
Planning
It doesn’t need to be overly detailed
 If you’ve got an up to date Core Strategy /
Local Plan you can rely on the Infrastructure
Planning that accompanies it
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Tip No. 2 – Get the Viability
Study brief right
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Make sure the consultant knows what is required
of them and is capable of delivering it.
Ensure the consultant does the following:
– Identify the maximum CIL rate that each use could
sustain
– Recommend a CIL rate for each use and explain their
rationale
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Make sure the consultant will be available for your
CIL Examination
Tip No. 3 – Setting Residential
CIL Rates
Follow this rule for residential CIL rates
“Our CIL rates will be set at a level that will
not make residential development that is
currently policy compliant and viable,
unviable” …..
 ….. and don’t worry too much about
residential development that is unviable
even with no CIL
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Tip No. 4 – Keep your CIL rates
simple
Don’t try to be clever with Regulation 13
 Setting differential rates for different
quantum's of the same development type
leads to many objections and a more
complicated examination
 It is also more difficult and resource hungry
to implement
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Tip No. 5 – Representations
Deal thoroughly with those representations
that
– provide evidence
– question your compliance with the
regulations
– question your infrastructure planning
 There is virtually nothing else (comments
about exceptions policy, review period, the
regulations, the meaningful proportion etc)
relevant to the CIL Examination
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Tip No. 6 – Help the Examiner
(part 1)
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Revise your Planning Obligations SPD
simultaneously with introducing CIL
Produce a Draft Regulation 123 list
AND
Submit them both to the Examiner, as it will assist
with complying with the revised CIL Guidance
and show that you are being transparent in your
approach
Tip No. 6 – Help the Examiner
(part 2)
Development type
Maximum
viable CIL
rate
Proposed
CIL rate
CIL as % of
maximum
viable rate
CIL as
% of
Costs
CIL as
% of
GDV
Inner Zone
Residential
£130
£70
54
2.2
1.9
Outer Zone
Residential
£90
£50
56
1.6
1.5
Retail
£250
£120
48
4.5
3.4
Student Housing
£220
£100
45
3.2
2.8
Hotel
£160
£70
44
1.9
1.8
Tip No. 7 – What to do in
moments of angst
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Refer to Regulation 14 and reassure yourself that
as a Charging Authority – the regulations are on
your side!!
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Regulation 14 – “…. A charging authority must
aim to strike what appears to the charging
authority to be an appropriate balance ….!
Getting ready to implement CIL
It’s A LOT OF WORK!!!
 Allow sufficient time – we allowed over 5
months from receipt of our examiners report
to our charges taking effect
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Things to do prior to CIL taking
effect (1)
Make sure the system you use to deal with
planning applications can cope
 Ensure resources are in place in your
planning admin teams
 Produce CIL Liability and CIL Demand
Notices
 Update your webpage to ensure all
necessary CIL information is there
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Things to do prior to CIL taking
effect (2)
Advertise the taking effect date to all local
developers, agents etc
 Let people know the dates after which any
application submitted will be liable for CIL
if it is approved
 Be clear with applicants about whether their
application will be determined prior to CIL
taking effect
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Things to do prior to CIL taking
effect (3)
Expect a spike in planning applications and
pressure on officers to determine
applications prior to CIL taking effect
 Consider whether additional Planning
Committee meetings need to be
programmed in
 Complete or dispose of any unsigned
Section 106 Agreements – this can have
legal resource implications
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Things to do prior to CIL taking
effect (4)
Let appellants and PINS know that appeals
determined after the CIL charges take effect
will be liable for CIL
 Consider whether the CIL Questions Form
is to become a local validation requirement
and consult on this if need be
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….. and finally
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Ensure you have a procedure in place for
allocating CIL monies – this can be more
complicated than you think!!
GOOD
LUCK