Councils to have more power to decide on infrastructure levy spending

Following a government amendment to the Levelling Up Bill, councils will have more freedom to decide how to spend funds from the infrastructure levy.

Last week, Marcus Jones, who was planning minister at the time, introduced a clause that means levy funds can be spent on "non-infrastructure matters" such as improving local services.

He said: "We expect to capture more value from developments because we will be capturing the value of the uplift of the finished product."

However, it was criticised by some, with Labour’s shadow planning minister Matthew Pennycook saying: "We feel very strongly, as I think local communities will, that the proceeds of an infrastructure levy should be spent on infrastructure in their area."

Another amendment was also introduced by Jones which would mean completion notices will no longer require confirmation from the Secretary of State.

He said: "Local planning authorities should not be discouraged from using them where appropriate and where the existing process for serving notices is long, slow and unnecessarily complex."

He continued to say that the new powers were ‘discretionary’ and "will not create significant additional resourcing burdens for local planning authorities".

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