Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether a local authority must rescind a liability notice for a Community Infrastructure Levy when the planning applicant having started construction subsequently provides evidence of exemption.

Guidance on the application of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) has been published by the Government and is available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/community-infrastructure-levy. This explains the eligibility to claim an exemption from the Levy and the regulatory processes that must be followed by the applicant in applying for, obtaining and maintaining an exemption. It also explains the steps the local authority must follow. Legislation requires that any exemption from a levy charge must be obtained prior to the commencement of the development.

The CIL liability notice must include the chargeable amount and state the amount of any exemption. The local authority must issue a revised liability notice if the chargeable amount changes, including if there is a change to the exemption. Where an authority issues a liability notice any earlier liability notices cease to have effect.

The CIL regulations set out an appeal process, under which an applicant has 60 days from the issuance of their CIL liability notice, and prior to the commencement of development, to appeal the chargeable amount. We are not currently seeking to introduce an additional arbitration process to CIL. However, in developing the new Infrastructure Levy, we will carefully consider how best to address any disputes over liabilities.