Information for developers
Planning obligations (Section 106/CIL)
New residential development often places pressure on existing education infrastructure and therefore its impact must be mitigated for the development to be acceptable in planning terms as outlined in the national planning policy framework, 2018.
Developer contributions for education are secured by means of conditions attached to planning permissions, a planning obligation under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, or the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL).
A Section 106 planning obligation secures a contribution directly payable to Staffordshire County Council for education (or direct provision of a school 'in kind'). Alternatively, CIL revenues are intended to help fund the supporting infrastructure needs to address cumulative impact of development across a local authority. This levy is optional for local planning authorities (LPAs) in England and Wales. Some of the LPAs across Staffordshire have adopted this approach.
Staffordshire Education Infrastructure Contributions Policy (SEICP)
The Staffordshire Education Infrastructure Contributions Policy (SEICP) sets out the approach SCC will take in identifying the impact of new residential development on education infrastructure and the necessary mitigation to make developments acceptable in planning terms.
The policy provides the basis for calculating likely education contributions and enables indicative figures to be calculated by developers wishing to understand what the anticipated contributions would be for a development site. The anticipated contribution is not based on any analysis of the local area for development. Where it is deemed appropriate, we reserve the right to determine an educational contribution using a different methodology. This may be where a more precise cost for providing additional and necessary educational facilities is known, where a development is of a large size or where one or more separate developments are to be phased across an area.
The SEICP now includes provision to calculate a likely contribution towards special education needs and disabilities (SEND) education infrastructure and home to school transport provision.