Localism Bill

My Lords, that is a slightly technical question for me, but I will write to the noble Lord on it, unless inspiration comes quickly. My noble friend Lord Jenkin of Roding and the noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, asked whether such resource will be used to meet local government shortfalls. We have clearly set out that the purpose of the levy is, and must continue to be, to support development. I can assure noble Lords that the money cannot be substituted for general local government spending. My noble friend Lord Jenkin asked the Government to consider greater flexibility in the use of CIL. We will consider whether allowing spending on infrastructure and other matters could improve the levy’s ability to support development. We agree that infrastructure is vital to supporting new growth and development but we do not accept that it is necessarily all that is needed. We will reflect on that and return to it at a later stage. The noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, suggested that strategic developments such as ports et cetera might be prevented from going ahead due to charging under both instruments. CIL applies to new buildings. It does not apply to buildings where people do not normally go, such as power stations, ports, service areas of airports et cetera. I am grateful for the input of my noble friend Lord Greaves. He asked whether CIL could be spent on playgrounds and bus routes, as the funds from Section 106 agreements can be. The short answer is yes. The Act does not define the term infrastructure exclusively and it is therefore wide as to what could be considered infrastructure. The answer to the noble Lord’s recent question is yes. The noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, suggested that there could be double taxation through Section 106 and through CIL. There is no double tax. Developers may not be charged twice for the same thing. I have seen today the letter that my noble friend Lord Jenkin referred to. We are considering it carefully. I have no doubt that my noble friend will return to this matter on Report. By that time we will have considered the letter and these matters further, and of course I look forward to further debate. In the mean time, I hope that my noble friend is willing to withdraw his amendments.