Issue - meetings

Report of Corporate Director Communities

Purpose of report

To secure project funding to the Growth & Regeneration and Development Management Services within the Place and Regeneration Directorate to address capacity constraints and to support priority projects including the Housing Delivery Action Plan, Local Area Energy Planning, inputting into the Oxford Growth Commission and enabling infrastructure to support complex development sites.

Recommendations

The Executive resolves:

1.1           To accept an award of £300k funding from MHCLG to be spent in 2025/26 on investment in capacity funding to support the acceleration of infrastructure and housing delivery in Bicester as part of the Bicester Garden Town Programme.

1.2           To transfer £600k from the projects reserve to a new earmarked “Growth and Regeneration Projects Reserve” and to allocate £100k of this in 2025/26.  This funding will add capacity to the other two Area Oversight Group areas of Banbury and Kidlington (and the 4 surrounding parish areas of the Local Plan Partial Review 2020) to accelerate housing and employment delivery through projects detailed in the report.

1.3           To delegate to the Corporate Director Communities (post title will change to Executive Director Place and Regeneration effective 15 October 2025), in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Property and Regeneration, the programme management and change control of funding to meet the identified projects, and subject to approval of the project business plans by Executive Committee as identified within the report.

Resolved

(1)            That an award of £300k funding from MHCLG be accepted to be spent in 2025/26 on investment in capacity funding to support the acceleration of infrastructure and housing delivery in Bicester as part of the Bicester Garden Town Programme.

(2)            That £600k be transferred from the projects reserve to a new earmarked “Growth and Regeneration Projects Reserve” and to allocate £100k of this in 2025/26.  This funding will add capacity to the other two Area Oversight Group areas of Banbury and Kidlington (and the 4 surrounding parish areas of the Local Plan Partial Review 2020) to accelerate housing and employment delivery through projects detailed in the report.

(3)            That it be agreed to delegate to the Corporate Director Communities (post title will change to Executive Director Place and Regeneration effective 15 October 2025), in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Property and Regeneration, the programme management and change control of funding to meet the identified projects, and subject to approval of the project business plans by Executive Committee as identified within the report.

The Corporate Director Communities submitted a report to secure project funding to the Growth & Regeneration and Development Management Services within the Place and Regeneration Directorate to address capacity constraints and to support priority projects including the Housing Delivery Action Plan, Local Area Energy Planning, inputting into the Oxford Growth Commission and enabling infrastructure to support complex development sites.

Resolved

(1)            That an award of £300k funding from MHCLG be accepted to be spent in 2025/26 on investment in capacity funding to support the acceleration of infrastructure and housing delivery in Bicester as part of the Bicester Garden Town Programme.

(2)            That £600k be transferred from the projects reserve to a new earmarked “Growth and Regeneration Projects Reserve” and to allocate £100k of this in 2025/26, which will add capacity to the other two Area Oversight Group areas of Banbury and Kidlington (and the 4 surrounding parish areas of the Local Plan Partial Review 2020) to accelerate housing and employment delivery through specific projects.

(3)            That it be agreed to delegate to the Corporate Director Communities (post title will change to Executive Director Place and Regeneration effective 15 October 2025), in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Property and Regeneration, the programme management and change control of funding to meet the identified projects, and subject to approval of the project business plans by Executive.

Reasons

Investing in capacity to support sustainable growth is a priority for the council as set out in the plans and strategies outlined in the report. The allocation of grant funding to provide further capacity shows that this is a priority understood by government.

Alternative options

Option 1: Do nothing.

This would severely limit the ability of the Growth and Regeneration Service to continue to support the Area Oversight Groups and to progress actions within the Housing Delivery Action Plan 2025 and the ADP. The £300k grant to MHCLG would be returned. S106 projects would not benefit from additional oversight or acceleration.

It is not recommended to select this option. Without progress on the key infrastructure projects to support allocated growth sites, the councils housing supply figures could worsen and growth across unallocated sites would likely be forthcoming at an increased rate.

Option 2: Only accept the MHCLG funding and await decision to invest council funding in continuation of the service for 2026/27 – 2027/28 until  the Medium-Term Funding Strategy is set in February 2026.

This option would restrict investment in year to the MHCLG grant for Bicester only and would prevent the service from making early progress in recruiting and deploying resources until a decision is reached in February 2026 at the earliest.

This option is not recommended due to the urgency of the Housing Delivery Action Plan and the ongoing priorities associated with unlocking growth. With the government direction on Mayoral Strategic Authorities and strategic planning, it is anticipated that there will be a significant shortfall in resources to support priorities and waiting a further five months will compound this risk.