Neighbourhood CIL needs more representative community involvement on priorities and projects

Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy  (NCIL) is one of the main ways residents can make positive changes in their neighbourhoods - although if the government gets its way it may soon be ended.  In Brent it has often been underspent with insufficient numbers of projects coming forward for funding.

The Cabinet will consider reports at Monday's meeting on how it has been spent and the outcome of the consultation about priorities for the scheme.

The latter, worryingly, shows a very low response from young people, the very people most impacted by the closure of youth centres and the impending economic crisis - only 8% of responses were from those under 25 years old.   The number of responses from ethnic minorities did not reflect their numbres in the population with for example only 3%  of respondents self-defined as black in Willesden.

With 'Crime and Anti-social behaviour'  and 'Education and Employment' scoring high in most areas there is clearly an urgent need to involve young people.  Overall engaging with harder to reach groups has to be a priority if NCIL monies are to be spent to benefit the whole population.

It is worth considering any mismatch between 'Top Priorities' and 'Project Themes'.

The proportions varied between NCIL areas (wider than wards):

This document shows how the money has been spent across the borough and in each area:

Brent clarifies confusing Neighbourhood CIL consultation survey

Brent Council has clarified the Neighbourhood  Community Infrastructure Levy consultation survey. The drop-down menu on each of the areas is labelled 1 to 9. Some people had thought 9 would be the highest priority as it is the highest number. In fact the highest priority is 1 and 9 is the lowest.

This afternoon the Counncil said:

Based on the data and comments received, we are able to confidently assume that most people used number 1 to rank their highest priority. However, just to be sure we will be emailing all respondents to this consultation to clarify the ranking order and they will be invited to submit a new response which will be counted separately.

The Council amended the relevant page thus:

The closing date for the consultation is confirmed as February 5th. Link to consultation HERE

In answer to a separate query on the Annual CIL report the Council said:

To clarify, the 'n/a' which appears in some of the tables means 'not applicable' rather than 'not available'. For the avoidance of doubt we have included a clarification point at the end of the document which has been republished online. In addition, the third table of the Report includes the name of the item of infrastructure that CIL was used to fund in 18/19 - Olympic Way Pedestrian Improvements - which is linked to footnote 3.

The Olympic Way Pedestrian Improvements expenditure in 2018-19 totalled  £4,632,929 in  addition to the £815,114 Wembley Neighbourhood CIL payments.

93% of Brent's Community Infrastructure Levy retained at end of 2018-19 financial year

Brent Council's  Annual Community Infrastructure Levy Report for the financial year 2018-2019 has just been published.  It shows that 93% of Brent CIL (£86,112,896.87) was retained at the end of the year.  The proportion of Strategic CIL retained was 94% (£74,026,947). £4,672,262 went towards Olympic Way works.

The Council has a long-term Infrastructure Delivery Plan 2020-2041, linked to the Brebt Local Plan, that can be seen HERE.

Cllr Muhammed Butt at the recent meeting on Street Trees, argued that Brent Council had no money for extensive tree and pavement works, so it is worth looking at the section of CIL that goes towards Neighbourhood CIL. The percentage retained was 89% overall (£12,085,948).

The borough is divided into six CIL neighbourhoods for the purposes of Neighbourhood CIL. These are the figures - the amount available includes the carry-forward from previous years.

CIL Neighbourhood	Amount available	Amount allocated	Percentage allocated	Amount retained
Harlesden	£1,130,675	£169,600	15%	£961,075
Kilburn & Kensal	£889,361	£319,360	36%	£570,000
Kingsbury & Kenton	£657,596	£116,888	18%	£540,709
Sudbury Town	£23,162	None	None	£23,162
Wembley	£10,187,294	£815,114	8%	£9,372,181
Willesden	£726,371	£107,552	15%	£618,819

At the Trees meeting Cllr Butt appeared to blame local groups for not putting forward bids for Neighbourhood CIL to fund enviromental project but in previous years Council departments, in various guises, have put forward their own bids on behalf of particular neighbourhoods.

I would suggest that the Scrutiny Task Group on trees policy could widen their brief to include the use of Neigbourhood CIL.

The full report LINK available below lists the projects that have been funded in each CIL neighbourhood.
(Click bottom right corner for full page view)

Why we await Brent's Annual CIL Report with more than a little interest

Brent Council is required to publish an Annual Report on how it has spent the Community Infrastructure Levy each year. The report for 2017-18 noted:

To ensure that the levy is open and transparent, Brent is required to prepare a short report on the levy to be published on our website by 31 December each year, for the previous financial year. This includes the details of Neighbourhood CIL.

I have been asking Brent Council why the report for 2018-19 has not yet been published. The Council website says it is now due in mid-January 2020.

The extracts below from 2017-18 show why I am interested and why scrutiny by non-Labour councillors is so important. Have a look at the overall underspend figures and the carry forwards from 2017-18 and ask yourselves why these monies have not been spent.  If we are elected Green councillors will be asking searching questions about the figures due to be reported shortly for 2018-19.

There is a consultation currently on Neighbourhood CIL priorities. You can comment HERE 

EXTRACTS FROM 2017-18 BELOW (FULL REPORT IS HERE)

Total of £1.47m Brent Neighbourhood CIL payouts announced

Brent Council Cabinet is set to approve a £1,471.608 total payout in the latest round of Neigbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy bids. The allocations are:

£366,975 to support the refurbishment of a new building for the Refugee Support Network in Harlesden. 

 

£250,000 to support the refurbishment of Challenge House in Harlesden for Crisis UK. 

£210,000 to support the refurbishment of the Silver Jubilee Park Clubhouse for Kingsbury Town Management Co. Ltd and Hendon Youth FC in Willesden. 


£109,833 to support the running of The Sanctuary Café for Hestia Housing and Support across neighbourhoods. 


£134,800 to support the installation of central heating of a community facility for St Michael and All Angels Church in Harlesden.

£170,000 to support the refurbishment of a community hall for St Cuthbert’s Church in Wembley 


£150,000 to support the building of a new Community Café and outdoor Space for St Catherine’s Church in Neasden 


£80,000 to support tree planting in the Dudden Hill area. This would be in addition to £30,000 allocated to tree planting in this area in NCIL’s 2018/19 round one, bringing the total spent by NCIL on tree planting in Dudden Hill to £110,000. 


Full descriptions of the projects can be found HERE

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Three worthwhile projects to get Brent Neighbourhood CIL grants

It is a pleasure to give details of three Brent projects that, subject to Cabinet approval on Monday, will receive funds from the Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy. Cabinet has to approve any NCIL grants above £100,000. Extracts below are from the report to Cabinet

Citizens Advice Brent (CAB) 
 £248,000

CAB seeks to refurbish and transform its current premises to deliver a new Community Hub resource for residents of Brent. The Hub will be open to CAB partners and all residents of the borough; particularly the most vulnerable who form the majority of users. 


The refurbished hub will provide: 

·      Expanded space - the space will be reorganised to offer public access 
PCs, brighter and more inviting interview rooms and a welcoming 
reception area 


·      Reorganisation of facilities - including terminals for people to make 
online benefit and other claims, assisted by Digital Assistants to navigate 
a number of websites 


·      Improved facilities - this will create a pleasant working environment for 
users and staff and improve the client experience 


·      Improved Health & Safety- The refurbishment will make the premises 
fully compliant with Health & Safety and equality requirements; and 


·      Environmental efficiencies - The project will be energy saving and 
improve the office carbon footprint. 


CAB is based in the Willesden CIL Neighbourhood but provides services to all Brent residents. It is a registered charity (no. 1049632) and company (no. 3091835) where people access advice and support to manage a range of issues including welfare benefits, housing and homelessness, debt, 
employment and immigration. The Hub will also develop the skills of volunteers. 

The Sickle Cell Society 
£133,958

The Sickle Cell Society has operated in Brent for 40 years from 54 Station Road, Harlesden. This project aims to refurbish the current premises and create a new, fully accessible, ground floor space which will be used for sickle cell support and focus groups, events, and for individuals and families to drop- in for confidential support and advice. It will also be available for any local community organisations to meet. This will fill a local void in amenities for these groups. 


Works will include: 

·      Lease of the neighbouring ground floor shop space and connecting this 
new space to the existing ground floor space 


·      Developing the ground floor to offering expanded community access of 
the facilities; and 


·      Creation of a new modern ‘shop front’ across both properties which will 
help to enhance the visual appearance of Station Road. 


The Sickle Cell Society has secured the lease for 56 Station Road from its own resources and submitted a change of use application for the ground floor. Consent was granted in December 2018. 


The Sickle Cell Society is a registered charity (no. 1046631) and company (no. 2840865). The current headquarters play a key role in educating people about the sickle cell and management techniques. Services delivered from the building enable those affected to better support themselves, empowers carers and provide peer forums. In addition to local visitors, the expectation is that the refurbished premises will be used to host growing numbers of visitors from the wider London community, across the UK and other parts of the world 


 

St Catherine’s Hall 
 £150,000

St Catherine’s Hall, Neasden was burned down in a major fire in September 2018. Prior to that it offered one large community hall, which was used by seven regular hirers 


An insurance payment will fund the restoration of the building as it was. NCIL funds are requested to increase the capacity of the building to accommodate more spaces for local community groups and to improve the visual presentation of the building on Neasden roundabout. 


This project will provide the following additional facilities: 

·      Creation of a second floor - providing a second large flexible hall which can 
be divided in two with its own toilet and refreshment facilities 


·      Creation of a new toilet and refreshments facilities, which will free up one 
room for two new small group meeting rooms; and 


·      Creation of a visually striking foyer area which will make use of the hall 
easier but will also enhance the look and feel of the Hall site on Neasden roundabout. 


·      All the new spaces will be available for hire by local community groups seven days a week. 

The hall is based in the Willesden CIL Neighbourhood but the expanded community facilities will benefit the whole borough. 


NOTE

St Catherine’s are holding a community consultation on Saturday. The is the message that the vicar, Rob Harrison posted on The View from Dollis Hill Facebook LINK
Last September, St Catherine’s Church Hall was burned down in an arson attack. This year, we will be rebuilding it as a Community Hub for Neasden.

The key question is: what kind of Community Hub does Neasden need?

On Saturday 13^th March there is an open Consultation Day to hear and share suggestions about what kind of facility we should build to serve Neasden for the coming decades.

If you would like to take part in this consultation, please reply to this post. 

The Consultation day begins at 10.30am on Saturday, and will finish at 3.00. Lunch will be provided for those staying for the whole event.

The morning session will focus on the kind of building that Neasden needs. The afternoon session will focus on the kind of resources that will be needed in that building.

The voice of local residents is vitally important to helping us build what Neasden most needs.

He added the following note today:

A call to Polish and Romanian members of our community. 

At present, over 40 people of our local communities have booked in to take part in the Community Hub Consultation at St Catherine’s Church on Saturday (10.30am - 3pm). Looking at the list of names, there is no representation of the Eastern European communities who are an important part of our Neasden Community. As we seek to build a Community Hub for Neasden, it is important that as many local needs as possible are expressed and heard. If you know people who could bring a perspective from those parts of our community, I would be delighted to include them in our consultation.

Wembley reduced to 50% share of Neighbourhood CIL from 83% in new Cabinet proposals

EXISTING DISTRIBUTION

PROPOSED DISTRIBUTION

Widespread complaints about the unequal distribution of Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy monies have resulted in a proposal going before the January 14th Cabinet that will reduce Wembley's share of Neighbourhood CIL from the present 83% to 50% of the total fund - that is a proposed total of £4.23m versus what would have been £7.06m using the existing distribution method.

Wembley retains the lion's share with other areas getting an equal share of the remainder but significantly more for the most part than they get now.  This is Option 4 in the table below:

 The report provides the following commentary on the options:

.        Option 1 (Retain existing distribution). This would be unpopular in light of the review. A significant number of the focus groups and interviews saw the distribution of NCIL funds and concentration of money in Wembley as unfair. Wembley stakeholders were keen to retain a significant sum of NCIL as they are impacted the most by development in the area. However, based on current and future projections, the gap in NCIL funds available to Wembley and the remaining four ClL neighbourhoods is set to increase. 


.        Option 2 (No distribution). NCIL receipts could be used anywhere across the borough. Bidders could propose projects to access funds irrespective of where the funds were generated. This would be easiest method of distribution and would allow equal access to

.        Option 2 could also help mitigate any impact felt by a different community beyond the NCIL boundary. However greater monitoring would still be required to ensure that one part of the borough was not disproportionately allocated funding. The disadvantages of this option are that the areas more greatly affected by development will lose out on the total value of NCIL receipts that would have been allocated if the existing distribution model were retained.

.        Option 3 (Equal Distribution). NCIL receipts would be redistributed equally across the five CIL Neighbourhoods. This would be appealing to areas that do not currently attract significant development. However this approach may disadvantage communities that are impacted most by development. 


.        Option 4 (Wembley 50% cap – other areas equal). Wembley’s NCIL fund would be capped at 50% of the total NCIL receipts generated in the borough. The remaining 50% would be divided equally between the remaining four CIL Neighbourhoods. This option would ensure that a greater proportion of NCIL Funds is allocated to the Wembley Neighbourhood where the majority of development currently takes place but also ensure that wider impacts of development are addressed elsewhere. 


.        Option 5 (Wembley 50% cap – other areas proportional). Wembley’s NCIL fund would be capped at 50% of the total NCIL receipts generated. The value of NCIL available in the remaining four CIL Neighbourhoods is set proportionally based on the amount of NCIL raised in their area. Based on current NCIL receipts the proportion would be Harlesden 41.86%, Kilburn 21.05%, Kingsbury 20.63% and Willesden 16.46%. This option would ensure that a greater proportion of CIL Funds is allocated to the Wembley Neighbourhood, however in the future, areas where there is less development will receive fewer NCIL funds. 


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Other proposed changes are minor and subject to change when a decision is made on ward boundaries except for a proposal to enlarge the decision making group evaluating proposals to four (Option 4):

Comments welcome.