In the first instance, Suffolk County Council will seek to enter into a Planning Performance Agreement (PPA) with developers to establish a mutually agreed, clear and contractually robust, set of principles for both parties. The expectations and principles for NSIP PPAs are set out in SCC's NSIP Planning Performance Agreement guidance document. However, where a PPA is not agreed, the Council will seek to recover costs as follows:
Relevant services that Suffolk County Council intends to recover costs for include:
- Planning
- Programme Management & Governance
- Monitoring & Evaluation
- Senior Management
- Ecology, Landscape & Environment
- Archaeology
- Public Rights of Way
- Highways and Transport
- Flood risk management/LLFA
- Public Health
- Community Liaison
- Skills
- Economic Development
- Children’s and Young People’s (including Schools Infrastructure)
- Adult Social Care
- Emergency Planning
- Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service
- Legal Services
- Corporate Services
Suffolk County Council will apply a standard hourly rate for relevant services. This rate will be applied to the actual time spent by officers on a given project.
The rate (excluding VAT) is £90 an hour. This rate is set on a cost recovery basis only, and will be kept under review. Legal costs and any external specialist expertise will be set out separately as required. If and where it is identified that the rate exceeds the reasonable costs incurred, the excess will be reimbursed accordingly to ensure compliance with cost recovery principles.
In addition to this, SCC will be charging as normal for the following statutory functions that have their own schedule of fees: Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA), Archaeology, Highways and Suffolk Biodiversity Information Service (SBIS).
SCC has extensive experience participating in Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs), including solar and electricity transmission schemes. If requested by Applicants or Project Promoters, SCC can provide estimated fees (for the purposes of cost recovery) covering the lifecycle of an NSIP. For further information, please email NSIPs@suffolk.gov.uk at the earliest opportunity.
