Purpose

Introduction of standard fee for the formal determination of discharge of S106 obligation(s), discharge of clause(s) in a S106 obligation and variation(s) to S106 obligation(s).

Decision

Breckland Council authorises the introduction of a standard fee for the formal determination of discharge of S106 obligation(s), discharge of clause(s) in a S106 obligation and variation(s) to S106 obligation(s).

Reasons for the decision

The report asks for approval of a new £300 fee for certain applications linked to Section 106 legal agreements.

At the moment, the Council deals with these applications for free, even though they take staff time and involve work such as checking the application, consulting others, preparing reports, getting senior approval, advertising where required, and issuing a formal decision.

The fee would apply when someone asks the Council to:

• confirm that a Section 106 obligation has been met or can be discharged
• discharge a specific clause in a Section 106 agreement
• vary or change a Section 106 obligation

The reason for introducing the fee is that these applications mainly benefit developers or applicants, while the Council currently covers the full cost. Other nearby councils already charge for similar work, with fees ranging from about £183.50 to £360.

The proposed fee of £300 per application is described as a modest contribution towards the Council’s costs. It may not cover the full cost of the work, but it would help recover some of the officer time and processing costs involved.

The report recommends approval of the fee introduction. The alternative option is to keep doing this work for free.

Alternative options considered

N/A