Capital Programme Strategy 2026/27

2. Aligning the Capital Programme Strategy with Council Priorities

Cabinet, Senior Leadership Team and Heads of Service oversee and co-ordinate the preparation, review and implementation of the Council’s Capital Programme Strategy, which is approved by Council and reviewed annually.

The Senior Leadership Team receives new bids for prioritisation and proposes a multi-year capital programme, taking into account projected available resources, for submission to Cabinet and Council. The Senior Leadership Team also oversees and monitors in-year requests for changes to the approved capital programme and scheme progress and receives quarterly capital monitoring reports.

By delivering its responsibilities, and taking a long-term view, the council ensures that both individual projects and the programme as a whole is affordable and fits with the council’s vision, priorities and outcomes as laid out in the Council Plan and other interlinked plans and strategies.

When considering initial proposals for new schemes, the Senior Leadership Team and Cabinet will ensure that only after a positive contribution to one or more of the objectives has been demonstrated, will a project be recommended for resource allocation by Council.

The following principles will enable the council to make sound capital investment decisions based on scrutiny and the evaluation of projects and programmes:

• All capital programmes and projects will be subject to comprehensive but proportional appraisal in line with the Government 5 Case Business Model and related HM Treasury Green Book guidance. In accordance with this, a capital project sponsor must be able to demonstrate that a rigorous process of options appraisal has been followed, requiring evidence of need, cost, risk, outcomes and methods of financing. Capital investment proposals which will result in a revenue cost saving or efficiency are encouraged.
• The appraisal process will be universally applied, rigorous, transparent and focus on a clear decision.
• All projects will be appraised and approved before any expenditure is committed (other than preliminary expenditure necessary for preparation of a business case).
• Scrutiny at every gateway stage will include consideration of necessity, value for money, viability, affordability and achievability
• All major projects will be subjected to a post project review that focuses on the benefits achieved, all obligations being met and lessons that can be learned.

Annex 2 further details the scheme approval reports process.

Achieving high quality results from capital investment is the most important aspect of the Capital Programme Strategy. The increased scale of capital investment over the coming years requires a shift in the quality of project management, planning and delivery. This supported by the Project Management Office (PMO). The PMO gives guidance to:

• align programmes and projects with strategic direction
• create best practice for consistent programme and project management throughout the organisation
• effectively prioritise and manage programmes and projects to a successful completion
• collaborative provision of resource, capability and resilience through centralisation
• enhance reporting capability through modernisation of processes

3. Governance Arrangements and Monitoring

Governance should not be unnecessarily bureaucratic but must put the right controls in place to manage a multi-million pound programme of projects. An effective and proportionate governance structure will enable the council to make timely and responsive decisions based on sound business cases. It will follow principles of risk management, escalation of issues and regular reporting.

The council’s governance arrangements are set out in the Constitution, Contract Standing Orders and Financial Regulations and Financial Procedures. These set out roles and responsibilities and the decision making process.

Financial monitoring of the capital programme is undertaken monthly with quarterly reporting to the Senior Officers, Senior Leadership Team and Cabinet. The Audit and Accounts Committee reviews the Annual Statement of Accounts of the Authority.

Monitoring delivery at key stages will be undertaken by the Senior Leadership Team and cover tracking and reporting progress towards delivery of outcomes as well as the realisation of the benefits and lessons to be learned, during and after completion of the projects. This process will be part of an emphasis on continuous improvement and embedded into a gateway approval system.

The Senior Leadership Team will also undertake an annual review of individual capital schemes which are included in the capital programme to:

• ensure that schemes still meet strategic priorities and outcomes via a capital appraisal process
• review their continued relevance in the context of a dynamic and constantly developing organisation
• consider the progress of schemes including any reasons for delayed starts or variations to approved budgetary allocations and re-phasing of planned expenditure
• identify any unutilised or underutilised resources
• it will consider any reallocation of resources

4. Financial Policies

The Council’s financial policies are set out in the Medium Term Financial Strategy. Those which relate to the capital programme are as follows:

Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)

The council has been a Community Infrastructure Charging Authority since 2018 when the council adopted the CIL charging schedule. This set outs the different rates charged which become payable on planning applications determined after 25 June 2018.

CIL is a charge which is paid a certain number of days after a development commences and which is relevant for some forms of residential schemes in the borough. The exact rate is based on the internal floor area of the homes being provided. The rates vary depending on the location of the site, in line with the rates contained within the CIL charging schedule. It is not applicable to homes which are defined as ‘affordable housing’ generally secured through the legal agreement.

Given that CIL is collected once a development has commenced, and an instalment policy in place for larger amounts due, there is a time lag between planning permission and the collection of CIL.

Strategic CIL must be spent on ‘the provision, improvement, replacement, operation, or maintenance of infrastructure needed to support the development of the area' as this is set out in law. It is intended that it be used to provide new and improved strategic infrastructure that supports the wider development of the borough rather than site specific infrastructure to accommodate individual developments or mitigate local impacts from a specific development (which are more appropriately addressed through S106 and Neighbourhood CIL).

The majority of Strategic CIL will be retained and spent by this council, but a portion of the Strategic CIL will be made available for partner organisations. These partners will receive 20% of the Strategic CIL ‘as a starting point', however this should not preclude more funding being made available for suitable schemes or less being passed on if suitable projects were not proposed.

CIL Spend Policy (agreed Council February 2024)

In aligning CIL spending with Council Plan priorities, project approval will be based on the following agreed financial policy:

• 25% to parishes with a neighbourhood plan
• 15% to areas with no plan including town areas (capped at £100.00 per Council Tax dwelling)
• town area allocation to be considered alongside with other relevant schemes to maximise benefits of funding
• 5% allocation to cover administration costs
• 70% to 80% for strategic schemes

The council recognises that partner organisations also deliver important infrastructure in our borough. Dependent on an assessment of the need to fund projects support the council’s own priorities, the council would seek funding bids from providers of major infrastructure projects, such as Hampshire County Council and the Integrated Care Board. As a starting point, 20% of the Strategic CIL could be made available for partner organisations each year, however this would not preclude more funding been made available for suitable schemes or less being passed on if suitable projects were not proposed.

CIL Spend Protocol (agreed Cabinet February 2025)

A detailed CIL Spend Protocol document to explain how CIL spending decisions are made and CIL spending processes was agreed by Cabinet in February 2025 and is published on the council’s website. As part of the CIL spend process, the council is required to publish an Infrastructure List setting out which types of infrastructure it intends to prioritise from CIL (as set out in Annex 2). The Infrastructure List will be reviewed alongside CIL spend proposals on an annual basis.

Property Investment Strategy

The Strategic Asset Management Plan for 2026/27 to 2028/29, builds on the work of the previous plan, continuing the active asset management of the portfolio.

The Property Investment Strategy, forms part of the Strategic Asset Management Plan 2026/27 to 2028/29. Whilst the overall aim of this strategy is to maintain the current overall level of property investment, the council, assisted by its property advisors (JLL), has identified a number of opportunities to generate improved long-term sustainable revenue by both working its existing capital asset base (for example through disposals or re-gearing of leases) or by making new property investments from the capital sums generated by the former activity.

The core aims and objectives of this strategy will be to achieve one or more of the following objectives:

• generate improved sustainable revenue streams
• diversify the existing asset base to reduce volatility and position for growth
• modernise the estate and improve lot size
• enhance the overall sustainability credentials of the portfolio towards net zero carbon
• stimulate economic regeneration within the Basingstoke area

In line with the principles of the Property Investment Strategy, qualified staff are continuing to review the portfolio with JLL to identify non-performing assets for disposal. Due to various factors, including Local Government Reorganisation, there is a need to ensure such transactions occur in the best market conditions together with the required capital funding from disposals before acquisitions can occur. The flow of such transactions will fluctuate and the budget allocation within the capital programme will need to be adjusted accordingly.

5. Wider Contextual Drivers

In respect of capital investment there are a number of global, national and local contextual drivers, which, together with the council’s vision set the scene for this strategy. These drivers are:

Regeneration

There is a need to transform and improve some of the borough’s infrastructure and built environment. The council wants its neighbourhoods to be places to be proud of and the town centre needs to be an attractive place to do business. Investing in the place and infrastructure will transform the borough and boost economic productivity and competitiveness.

The council will continue to work with housing association partners known as registered providers, to deliver regeneration in the priority residential areas of Buckskin, South Ham and Winklebury.

Work on implementing strategies and masterplans for the key three strategic sites of the Town Centre; Leisure Park and Basing View is in progress as discussed below:

Town Centre

In 2022, Cabinet adopted the Town Centre Strategy and Masterplan, setting out a clear vision and ambitious framework for creating a vibrant and resilient town centre. The Masterplan indicated that the town centre has the potential to deliver:

• 1,800 homes
• 220,000 sq. ft of workspace
• 190,000 sq. ft of town centre uses.
• 59 development opportunities across 8 areas

The strategy provides an in-depth understanding of the challenges the town centre faces today and in the future, the opportunities that are available, the interventions required to ensure its long term vibrancy and resilience and how the area can move towards being a more experience-based and people-focused town centre that provides the right offer, built environment and public realm to give Basingstoke a clear identity and unique selling point. This includes introducing a university offer.

The Top of Town was identified as a priority area to drive forward improvements whilst longer term options for the town centre are explored. The council has developed an action plan and already delivered a package of improvements to breathe new life and enhance the vibrancy of the area. By investing in the environment and fabric of the area, the council has led on work alongside other stakeholders to see a concerted improvement at the Top of the Town.

Longer term however, it recognised that to enable transformation of this scale and move into the delivery stage it will require close working with the private sector.

Therefore, Cabinet on 9 December 2025 approved the creation of an investment partnership and recognised this option as the most suitable approach to attract new investment and accelerate delivery to create new homes, leisure, culture and Grade A office uses alongside targeting key sectors and a higher education offer to bring greater vibrancy, prosperity, an increase in the skilled workforce and improved infrastructure to the town centre.

Moving forward in partnership will translate key council priorities and the longer-term ambitions of the Town Centre Masterplan from vision into delivery and create the conditions for a thriving, modern town centre that supports sustainable growth and wellbeing.

Collaborating with an experienced partner has the potential to bring benefits such as the sharing of skills, experience, resources, risk management and appetite, along with a programme approach to support development of more complex sites. The ability to access external expertise and capacity is one of the key reasons why other local authorities have successfully opted for forms of partnership working.

Delivering this strategy will present some infrastructure challenges and require interventions, that may include funding.

Leisure Park

The Leisure Park Masterplan was approved by Cabinet in January 2023. The 60-acre site includes existing leisure occupiers and several development plots.

The delivery of a new leisure centre to replace the existing Aquadrome is a corporate plan priority.

Cabinet in February 2024 approved the outline business case for a new leisure centre and the project team has undertaken a competitive dialogue procurement process to appoint a bidder via the preferred DBOM (Design, Build, Operate and Maintain) delivery model. A contract-operator will be selected in 2026/27 with construction taking place during 2027/28 and 2028/29. This process has provided sufficient detail to include the anticipated costs and profiling of the capital funding requirements of the scheme in the revised capital programme for 2024/25 – 2029/30.

Cabinet on 6 January 2026 approved the delivery of a new 18-hole adventure golf course and golf pod style driving range at the Leisure Park in order to satisfy the reprovision requirement to enable the proposed Great Wolf Resort development to proceed, subject to planning and the reallocation of the approved £1.000M budget for 2027/28 to deliver these facilities.

The leisure park masterplan will be refreshed in 2026/27 to accurately reflect the location of the new leisure centre and golf facilities. It is expected to require significant capital investment in later years of the MTFS period and beyond to progress infrastructure, highways and public realm improvements.

Basing View

Basing View is a 65-acre business park situated in the heart of Basingstoke, a short walk from the railway station and town centre. This key strategic employment zone is currently home to more than 180 national and international businesses as well as a growing SME community and will be home to a new state-of-the-art 5G Living Lab.

Major redevelopment is transforming Basing View and opening up a wide choice of business space options for companies of all sizes. Most recently with over £44M investment in refurbishments providing 206,000 sq. ft of Grade A office space at Grosvenor House and Plant which has achieved BREEAM Outstanding. In May 2025, Build to Rent (BTR) developers and operators Packaged Living obtained a resolution to grant planning consent on the View Point site for 326 new homes with a GDV of over £100M subject to completion of a Section 106 legal agreement, and are nearing completion of demolition of the existing building.

As the freeholder, the council is playing a key role in helping promote and stimulate new investment in the area and is committed to investing in the long-term success of Basing View. The council will continue to make direct interventions and assemble land to facilitate growth and prioritise delivery on sites such as Fanum House through the proposed investment partnership in line with the emerging local plan which proposes a minimum of 1,000 new homes and mixed use development, whilst ensuring no net loss of office space.

Affordable Housing

The council’s Housing and Homelessness Strategy 2023 to 2027 was adopted in October 2023. This focuses on housing choices for all and encompasses statutory housing duties, homelessness and the Social Inclusion Partnership, initiatives to increase access to owner-occupation, as well as emerging themes including tackling climate change and place shaping. This is supported by the Tenancy Strategy and the Private Sector Housing Enforcement Strategy.

Local Plan

Local Plans, prepared by a local planning authority in consultation with its community, set out a vision and a framework for the future development of an area. The Local Plan sets out how much new development is needed over the plan period – such as for housing, business, infrastructure, health and community facilities – and where this should go. It will also say what land and buildings should to be protected. These are sometimes referred to as ‘strategic’ policies. The plan also contains more detailed policies about specific areas different types of new development. These are called ‘non-strategic’ policies.

The current adopted Local Plan covers the period 2011 to 2029 but is now being reviewed a new local plan is now being produced in line with national planning policy requirements. The updated plan will cover the period up to 2042. As the council's primary planning document, the Local Plan will build upon other council strategies to direct growth and change to appropriate locations with an infrastructure first approach to achieve sustainable development to creating places where people want to live, work and locate their businesses. Tackling climate change will be a central focus for the new Plan.

Manydown

Development of land at Manydown is a key strategic scheme for the council in contributing to the delivery of the Local Plan and communities for the future.

Manydown provides the opportunity to attract significant external funding into the borough to enable delivery of new and improved infrastructure, contributing to bio-diversity net gain through enhancing habitats and new ecology improvements particularly through the new countryside park. There may be additional opportunities to consider utilising land not for development as local carbon offsetting.

In partnership with Urban & Civic and The Wellcome Trust, the development will create opportunities to support growth recovery plans with new construction jobs, employment opportunities within the new local centres and working to improve skills.

Climate Emergency

The council has committed to taking action to tackle the climate emergency. As set out in the recently updated (December 2025) Climate Change and Air Quality Strategy, this includes targets for its activities being carbon neutral by 2025 and the entire borough being net zero carbon neutral by 2045.

Mitigating and adapting to climate change is now embedded within the council’s decision making and it is important that capital investments make a positive contribution to the delivery of the Climate Emergency Action Plan, which was also updated in December 2025.

The council’s approach to tackling its commitments, for both council operations and borough-wide emissions, is to focus on six main categories:

• Action by all – the need for everyone in the borough to contribute
• Buildings – tackling emissions from heating and powering our buildings
• Transport – tackling emissions from vehicles
• Zero carbon electricity – supporting the transition to a decarbonised electricity system
• Consumption Waste– reducing waste and consumption
• The Natural Environment – maximising the climate mitigation and adaptation qualities of the natural environment

This strategy sets out a framework to take action to tackle climate change and air quality issues to meet the ambitious targets set out in the climate emergency declaration and the action plan provides a set of specific actions required to deliver against the aspirations and principles laid down in the strategy. All capital schemes will consider how to maximise the funding available to achieve carbon reduction where possible. This remains the case beyond 2025, as the council continues to seek to reduce operational emissions despite success in being on track to have achieved carbon neutrality by the end of 2025 (with confirmation expected in early summer 2026).

Capital investment plans will be important in delivering this through a range of initiatives including reducing vehicle emissions when purchasing replacement council owned vehicles, use of electric vehicles and installing electric charging points in the borough, making buildings more energy efficient and providing grants for green initiatives.

The council is investing in the walking and cycling infrastructure needed to enable communities to adopt sustainable active travel modes. The HCC Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan for our borough, adopted in 2023, provides a basis for such improvements, which will be delivered by the Highway Authority.

The council also has key targets to increase recycling rates and to reduce contamination rates within recycling, to improve quality and maximise income. The council will actively consider and promote recycling initiatives to increase recycling rates and drive improvement to material quality, thus maximising income potential. The council will provide the necessary investment to support positive environmental changes in line with forthcoming changes in government legislation including (but not limited to) Food waste collections, Consistency in collections, Deposit Return Schemes (DRS), Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) etc.

The council will also support local system changes required to improve material capture, reduce residual waste arisings and increase the range of recyclable materials provided to our residents. These changes will include Twin-Stream’ recycling collections and new targets relating to contamination rates and residual waste arisings, both of which, should be reduced where possible to minimise unnecessary expenditure from financial penalties.

Ecological Emergency

The council is committed to protecting and enhancing biodiversity, which is reflected in Priority 2 of the council plan ‘a borough where we protect, restore, reconnect and enhance our natural environment’. The council also has a statutory ‘Biodiversity Duty’ that requires it to conserve and enhance biodiversity.

In 2021, the council declared an ecological emergency, an issue that is important in the future wellbeing of the borough. One key element taken forward from this was the development and adoption of the Biodiversity Strategy for Basingstoke and Deane 2023 to 2029 that sets out a vision, priorities and actions that will be required to achieve this. It is supported by an Action Plan with 48 different actions several of which relate to the enhancement open spaces and council property for biodiversity via council project work via S106 contributions, the Environmental Renewal Programme, the Play Replacement Programme, and Regeneration projects. Such enhancements may include the creation or restoration of wildlife rich grassland, protect and enhance watercourses and provide extra homes and foraging areas for species; these opportunities taken to enhance nature will benefit both residents and wildlife in the borough.

For all relevant projects, project managers should engage with the council’s Biodiversity team at an early stage to identify impacts and opportunities for the natural environment, to ensure ecological issues are addressed and avoid delay and extra costs later down the project timeline. The Ecological Emergency Checklist (link to internal document) should be completed by the project team to kickstart this process.

Green Infrastructure

The Green Infrastructure Strategy 2018 to 2029 covers landscape, heritage, sense of place, biodiversity, water resources, trees and woodland, parks and open spaces, health and wellbeing and access and recreation, delivering on Local Plan policies and incorporating governing legislation, standards and land management requirements. This is supported by the Living Landscapes Natural Environment Strategy and is aligned to the Local Plan to 2029.

Public Spending Pressures

Locally the council aims to ensure that the maximum benefit is obtained from capital investment in terms of achieving Council Plan priorities. Capital investment also provides the opportunity to generate additional income and to make savings through invest to save schemes.

Technology

The technology landscape continues to evolve rapidly, specifically in relation to AI. The opportunities presented by this technology are powerful and wide ranging. Including the ability to use AI to free up human time, applying it to reduce administration, triage demand and surface unseen patterns and smooth the customer journey in accessing council services.

The fast pace of technological advances in an external context is set against the internal context of the use of several traditional legacy line of business systems and growing cyber security threats.

A review of the IT and Digital team has created a shift from IT to technology, with a digital team being created so that a shift to the better use of technology and business intelligence can be achieved. Business intelligence being a critical foundation for successful AI implementation and insight led decision making and service design.

The focus of the IT and Digital and Continuous Improvement teams is to work with service areas across the council to understand how the data held in existing systems can be used to provide insight and drive data led decisions, to the benefit of both the resident and council staff. To increase efficiency and drive out both technology and manual process debt and be more efficient in processes to join up data and help people transact with the council and enhance ways of working for council staff.

The existing Digital and Customer Experience strategies will be integrated into one strategy to reflect the need to build services online by default, to source insight from data to make better decisions, to continue to modernise the council’s infrastructure and systems. To create digital skills and knowledge across the organisation with a culture and systems that support efficient digital practices.

Customer Demand and Demographic Pressures

There are ongoing increasing expectations for self-service and personalisation. Customers expect seamless digital experiences and do not particularly distinguish that they are interacting with a public sector with multiple lines of business rather than private organisation. As part of the existing Customer Strategy improvements are being made to the online self-service forms available on the council website and new self-service forms will be created to offer further choice of contact method to customers.

An aging population and diverse workforce require inclusive design and accessibility in digital services. The council is committed to continuing to deliver accessible services and technology solutions. Each new or amended service has an Equality Impact Assessment completed to ensure the council embed equality in service design.

Economic Development

The Future Economy Framework, adopted by Cabinet in June 2025, establishes the foundations for economic development activities in the borough for 2025 to 2030 to promote inclusive and sustainable growth. The framework outlines an approach to economic growth based on the cross-cutting themes of inclusive, clean, and smart growth. It also identifies the three core priority areas of strengthening our businesses, removing barriers to opportunity for all residents, and showcasing our place as the main drivers for economic development. The delivery and monitoring of the framework is underpinned by an action plan that will be regularly updated as progress is made and new opportunities or challenges are identified.

To enable the delivery of the Framework and promote economic growth, the council works closely with a range of partners including HCC, business organisations, private sector partners, developers, local schools and colleges, government departments and training providers.

Alongside the Future Economy Framework, other strategies exist to support the delivery of jobs, growth and investment including the Local Plan and the Transport Strategy. The strategy was jointly prepared and adopted by both the Borough Council and Hampshire County Council and provides a framework to support improvements in transport and accessibility in general, focussed on providing a range of modes of travel, whilst reflecting the ambitions to support carbon reduction in line with the climate emergency and adopted Climate Change and Air Quality Strategy.

Annex 1 - Guidance on capital scheme approval reports

When considering initial proposals for new schemes, the Senior Leadership Team will ensure that only after a positive contribution to one or more of the objectives has been demonstrated, will a project be recommended for resource allocation by Cabinet. The best approach to delivering capital schemes will be considered in order to enable funding to be better aligned with other partners and funding sources and ensure a borough wide approach is taken.

All additions to the council’s capital programme will require a robust business case that identifies the total capital and revenue costs of the scheme, that it is affordable, and funding requirement identifying any specific funding sources for example, grant funding, partner contributions.

The Senior Leadership Team will review and evaluate all capital bids for resource allocation along with need for external borrowing and levels of voluntary ‘Minimum Revenue Provision' (MRP). It will then recommend to Cabinet/Council a prioritisation of resources to ensure alignment with other spending plans and the maximisation of benefits to the council and achievement of council outcomes, priorities and Executive commitments. The Chief Finance Officer (Section 151 Officer) will recommend the use of both non-ring fenced and ring-fenced resources and also the general prioritisation of resources so that Cabinet/Council can make well informed final decisions on the utilisation of resources.

It should be noted, that if the need to borrow is identified as part of funding the scheme, the council has legal maximum limits on its ability which are agreed by council annually as part of the Treasury Management Strategy.

Process of Approval

All proposed schemes to be considered for capital investment must follow a two stage process.

Stage one: Outline Business Case

• A high level option appraisal should be undertaken covering, justification and links to council priorities, options, achievability, risks and a financial summary, agreed with the Chief Financial Officer, demonstrating a positive return on investment. This should be completed in consultation with the relevant Director and Portfolio Holder; and
• The scheme request will then be reviewed by the Senior Leadership Team. Once reviewed, the Senior Leadership Team will then recommend whether a further detailed business case is required in order for the scheme to be fully assessed.

Stage two: Detailed Business Case

All schemes progressing to stage two must be supported by a detailed business case using the standard template maintained by the Corporate Programme Management Office. The business case must cover the following;

Business need - A summary of what the scheme is and why it is required:

Scheme objectives

• description of how the scheme will contribute to the council priorities
• outline the main benefits to be produced by the scheme
• define the key success factors and how success will be measured
• outline main stakeholder groups and their contribution to the scheme

Option appraisal

• outline all options considered, the general approach taken (refer to Council’s option appraisal guidance) and identify the preferred option
• include financial and non-financial benefits
• outline the risk assessment and mitigation (link to corporate risk policy)
• provide a sensitivity analysis showing the effect of changes in critical factors

Achievability

• provide a high level plan for achieving the desired outcome with key milestones
• should demonstrate the period of time over which the scheme will be implemented
• provide outline contingency plans

Financial Summary

• identify the whole life cost of the scheme including both revenue and capital costs and how any recurring revenue cost implications will be met
• provide financial analysis that demonstrates the preferred option provides a positive return on investment and that where external borrowing is proposed, how would this be repaid from scheme benefits

Key Assessment Criteria - The assessment will involve consideration of the business case areas using the following criteria:

Non-Financial Areas

• How well does the proposal meet council priorities?
• Are key stakeholders supportive?
• Have a range of options been considered?
• Have innovative approaches been considered?
• Have alternative delivery options been considered?
• Can the scheme be delivered with the council’s current capability and capacity?
• Can the risks be managed? and
• ·Does the scope or timescale need to change?

Financial Assessment

• The preferred option must demonstrate a positive return on investment and be affordable. Higher scheme returns may need to be required depending on the risk assessment and level of benefits, both financial and non-financial.
• A reasonable assessment of whole life costs of the scheme should be used in the evaluation but avoid spurious accuracy.
• How sensitive are the key assumptions.
• Consider alternative funding sources.

Scheme sign off and approval - The proposed process for assessing and gaining formal approval for new schemes is as follows:

• The Business Case must have been approved by the Director and Portfolio Holder.
• The resource sections of the business case must have been cleared with the relevant corporate service area foe example, legal.
• The financial summary in the detailed business case must be signed off by the Chief Financial Officer.
• The Senior Leadership Team will assess the business case and make a recommendation to Cabinet and Council as relevant.
• If the capital programme contains a scheme budget (or a general budget) then approval to spend will be subject to the virement delegations set out in section B paragraph 2.13 of the Financial Procedures.
• If there is no funding in the approved capital programme, then a Council decision would be required. New capital scheme requests outside of the budget setting process will be considered by the Chief Finance Officer in consultation with the portfolio holder for Finance and Property, with recommendations for consideration by cabinet and approval by Council.

Post scheme review and ongoing monitoring

A post scheme review should be completed in accordance with best practice and the Senior Leadership Team will agree which of these reviews it wishes to

Annex 2 - Infrastructure List (agreed Council February 2025)

Regulation 121A of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) (Amendment) Regulations (2019) requires the council to publish ‘a statement of the infrastructure projects or types of infrastructure which the charging authority intends will be, or may be, wholly or partly funded by [Strategic] CIL’ (an Infrastructure List).

This Infrastructure List (below) therefore sets out the types of infrastructure that the council intends to prioritise from CIL. More detail about the specific infrastructure projects required to support growth, and their level of priority, is set out in the council’s Infrastructure Delivery Plan.

In accordance with the council’s CIL Spend Protocol, there will be an annual bidding process for CIL funding, and decisions about which projects will be funded will be made as part of the council’s Capital Programme. The list of projects to be funded over the next five years will be set out in a CIL Spending Plan.

The inclusion of a type of infrastructure on the list therefore does not guarantee or imply it will receive any CIL funding, and the broad types set out below are not in any prioritised order.

• Transport - Including highways and traffic works, public transport improvements, and walking and cycling infrastructure.
• Education - Including the provision of new schools and improvements to existing facilities.
• Community and cultural infrastructure - Including the provision of new community facilities and improvements to existing facilities.
• Health Including the provision of new health centres and GP surgeries, and improvements to existing facilities.
• Sports facilities - New and improved sport and leisure facilities, including the redevelopment of Basingstoke Leisure Park.
• Green and blue infrastructure - Including strategic and local-scale green infrastructure and public realm improvements, and strategic flood defence infrastructure
• Renewable energy infrastructure - Infrastructure required to facilitate the borough’s transition to net zero.

The 2019 CIL regulation amendment removed the previous restriction on the pooling of planning obligations towards a single piece of infrastructure. Alongside CIL contributions, the council may also seek planning obligations by way of a planning agreement (S106) where they would comply with planning policy and meet the statutory tests.