The Government has published its response to the Housing, Communities, and Local Government Select Committee’s report on land value capture including its recommendations on reforming the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL).

The Government’s response relates to England only in relation to planning and the Community Infrastructure Levy.

The Government responded to the CIL Review Group’s recommendation that a Local Infrastructure Tariff be introduced in place of CIL by pointing to the adoption rate of the current system (with 154 authorities charging it and 73 progressing on it) as well as its increasing revenues (with receipts more than doubling every year since the levy was introduced). It stated that improving the existing system in the short term will be less disruptive for local authorities than more significant changes.

The Committee had reported that CIL was far too complex and it recommended that “the extensive range of exceptions need to be removed”. The Government’s response did not confirm that it agreed with this proposal and noted that it was bringing forward reforms to the developer contributions. It did however add that “In the longer term, the Government will continue to explore further options going forward”. This, combined with the lack of assurance that the existing exemptions will be maintained, raises concerns for the future and will have to be monitored.

The Government also noted that it would amend guidance to encourage groups of charging authorities to use existing powers to more effectively support the delivery of strategic infrastructure through the pooling of their local CIL receipts.