Companies delaying payment or defaulting on payment of Section 106 (S106) money

Thank you for your request for Information made under the Freedom of Information Act.

Your request will now be dealt with and a response will be sent within 20 working days, starting from the next working day after your request is received.

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Dear S Davis,

Thank you for your recent Freedom of Information request.

I have checked with the planning obligations team, who have replied as
follows...

Bristol City Council does not hold Section 106 information in the way
that is requested. It is also estimated that it would take beyond the
appropriate limit (18 hours of officer time) to retrospectively compile.
This is in accordance with Regulation 5 (2) (b) of the Freedom of
Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations
2004 (Statutory Instrument No 3244).

Section 106 monies tend to become payable upon certain events taking
place, such as a development commencing or being occupied. Once the
Council is aware that a relevant event is imminent, we contact the
developer requiring payment. We then adopt an approach similar to a
utility company, in that if payment has not been made in a month, we
send a chasing letter, followed by a final demand and threat of legal
action.

If a developer contacts us and is unable to pay sums when they are due,
we may agree to phased payment of the monies over a period of time.
However, if a developer refuses to pay monies due or does not respond to
our letters then we will (and have done on a number of occasions) pursue
the matter through the courts to secure payment.

All our Section 106 Agreements index link monies, to the Retail Prices
Index, therefore the value of monies due will continue to increase until
payment. This ensures that the Council does not “lose out” due to
late payment as the real value of the sum is retained.

Currently the only sum of Section 106 money that is outstanding to the
point where legal action is being progressed is £63,700.97 due from
Persimmon Homes in respect of a development at the City of Bristol
College Site, Ashley Down.

Attached is a spreadsheet, which details all Section 106 monies held as
at 31 August 2010. In addition the following table summarises the total
amounts of Section 106 monies received on an annual basis since
2003/04.

Year Sum Received
2003/04 £2,921,822.31
2004/05 £3,852,826.79
2005/06 £3,050,339.19
2006/07 £5,790,477.40
2007/08 £8,371,663.33
2008/09 £6,608,890.38
2009/10 £2,960,190.81
1 Apr 2010 - to 10 Sept 2010 £2,535,926.58

This response should answer your request in full, however if you are
not satisfied with this response or wish to lodge an appeal against any
exemptions that may have been applied, you can do so by writing to the
Data Protection Officer at Bristol City Council Legal Services, The
Council House, College Green, Bristol, BS99 7PH or [Bristol City Council request email].
Details of the complaints procedure can be found at
http://www.bristol.gov.uk/complaints.

If, after you have exhausted the council’s complaints procedure, you
are still not satisfied with the response you have received you have the
right to complain to the Information Commissioner, details of your right
to complain can be found at http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx

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does not imply a right to reproduce or commercially exploit such
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obtained from the copyright holders.

Yours Sincerely
Steve Knight

______________________________________________________________________
'Do it online' with our growing range of online services - http://www.bristol.gov.uk/services

Sign-up for our email bulletin giving news, have-your-say and event information at: http://www.bristol.gov.uk/newsdirect

View webcasts of Council meetings at http://www.bristol.gov.uk/webcast

Bristol is the UK's first Cycling City. Visit www.betterbybike.info to join thousands of others getting around by bike.