GLPC Job Description
/ Job Title / Career Grade CIL/S106 Infrastructure Planning Officer
Department / Regeneration and Environment
Section / Planning | Spatial Planning
Grade / SO1 – PO3 (Career Grade)
Reports to / Principal Infrastructure Officer or other officers as may be allocated from time to time
Staffing Responsibility / None
Organisation / Organisation chart attached
Job Purpose
  1. Contribute to the proper planning and regeneration of the borough through the planning for and delivery of infrastructure via planning contributions including S106 and CIL to ensure that growth and regeneration is delivered in line with corporate priorities, the Brent Local Plan and associated documents.

Principal Accountabilities and Responsibilities
The complexity of work will rise with progression through the career grade
Monitoring, compliance and reporting
  1. Establish, improve, implement and maintain a secure database for the recording, monitoring and compliance of S106 financial and non financial obligations, and CIL income, allocations and expenditure
  2. Assist in the pro-active monitoring of and ensuring compliance with financial payments and non financial obligations
  3. Assist colleagues with the CIL floorspace calculations, CIL relief/exemptions and S106 contributions, including with appeals
  4. Ensure relevant notices, payment requests and receipts are issued promptly, and debt chased rigorously.
  5. Assist in the monitoring of starts and completions of developments
  6. Assist with reports, returns and audits for scrutiny committees, finance, other colleagues and the Mayor and for Freedom of Information requests
  7. Assist in the transfer of contributions to other services and organisations
  8. Provide data to land charges and other databases where needed
Infrastructure Planning
  1. Support the production and maintenance of the Local Plan, (Annual) Monitoring Report, SPDs/guidance and Infrastructure Delivery Plan by the creation, delivery and maintenance of an evidence base.
  2. Assist in the process for allocating CIL spend
  3. Liaise with infrastructure providers within and outside the Council to ensure that their infrastructure needs and delivery progress are fed into the Infrastructure Delivery Plan, and into the Council’s funding decisions, working closely with finance colleagues
  4. In relation to CIL and S106, and by the planning, governance and delivery of funding for infrastructure projects funded through the planning process
  5. Support colleagues (planning and legal) on negotiating and drafting S106 heads of terms
Engagement
  1. Support engagement with Members, the community, delivery departments and other key stakeholders on infrastructure planning, CIL and S106 obligations
  2. Respond to queries from developers, councillors and colleagues regarding implementation of developments and meeting obligations/payments.
Other
  1. Keeping abreast of changes in the national and regional legislative, policy and guidance context and implement change
  2. Promote customer satisfaction when delivering Spatial Planning Services.
  3. Take individual and collective professional responsibility for championing the council's diversity agenda and implementing initiatives to secure equality of access and outcomes and commit to continually developing personal understanding of diversity.
  4. Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and all employees are required to act in such a way that at all times safeguards the health and well-being of children and vulnerable adults.
  5. Carry out duties with due regard to the Council’s Customer Care, Equal Opportunities, Information Governance, Data Protection and Health and Safety policies and procedures.
  6. Undertake any other duties commensurate with the general level of responsibility of this post.

DBS Status / No check required
Politically Restricted / No
Person Specification

Career Grade Level 1

Knowledge and Qualifications
  1. First degree or equivalent that would allow entry onto RTPI accredited postgraduate degree (desirable)
  2. Project management qualification or relevant experience
  3. Some knowledge and understanding of English town planning system and the role of S106 and CIL in helping to deliver infrastructure alongside development.
  4. Understanding of CIL/S106 legislation and regulations

Experience
  1. Experience of working on planning applications, planning policy or on S106 obligations and community infrastructure levy

Skills and Abilities
  1. Ability to communicate well, in writing and orally, establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with colleagues and clients.
  2. General record keeping IT skills (word, excel) and ability to learn specialist (e.g. Acolaid) IT skills and maintain databases
  3. Basic financial/accountancy skills
  4. Organised and able to manage own work priorities, with supervision, and adhere to processes ensuring key targets are consistently met
  5. Developing ability to draft heads of terms and to understand legal agreements and technical reports
  6. Developing understanding of infrastructure demand and developing ability to analyse, interpret, assess and summarise information
  7. Developing ability & understanding of negotiation
  8. To be prepared to attend evening and weekend meetings (eg committees & events within the borough) and from time to time and to work hours required to meet pressing deadlines that may exceed contracted hours (desirable)
  9. Ability to carry out required site visits

Career Grade Level 2

Knowledge and Qualifications
  1. First degree or equivalent that would allow entry onto RTPI accredited postgraduate degree (desirable)
  2. Project management qualification or relevant experience
  3. Good knowledge and understanding of English town planning system and the role of S106 and CIL in helping to deliver infrastructure alongside development.
  4. Understanding of CIL/S106 legislation and regulations

Experience
  1. Experience of working on planning applications, planning policy or on S106 obligations and community infrastructure levy
  2. Experience of public meetings, member level meetings or committees

Skills and Abilities
  1. Ability to communicate technical and financial matters well, in writing and orally, establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with colleagues and clients.
  2. General record keeping IT skills (word, excel) and ability to learn specialist (e.g. Acolaid) IT skills, including including establishing and maintaining databases
  3. Developing financial/accountancy skills
  4. Organised and able to manage own work priorities, and adhere to processes ensuring key targets are consistently met
  5. Good ability to draft heads of terms and to understand legal agreements and technical reports
  6. Good understanding of infrastructure demand and ability to analyse, interpret, assess and summarise information
  7. Ability to negotiate with applicants, other organisations and internal delivery units
  8. To be prepared to attend evening and weekend meetings (eg committees & events within the borough) and from time to time and to work hours required to meet pressing deadlines that may exceed contracted hours (desirable)
  9. Ability to carry out required site visits

Career Grade Level 3

Knowledge and Qualifications
  1. An appropriate RTPI accredited postgraduate degree (desirable)
  2. Project management qualification or relevant experience
  3. Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of English town planning system and the role of S106 and CIL in helping to deliver infrastructure alongside development.
  4. Understanding of relevant legislation, regulations and case law around CIL and S106 obligations

Experience
  1. Experience of infrastructure planning in a large urban local authority
  2. Experience of public meetings, member level meetings or committees

Skills and Abilities
  1. Clear ability to communicate complex technical and financial matters well, in writing and orally, establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with senior colleagues and clients.
  2. Good record keeping IT skills (word, excel) and specialist (e.g. Acolaid) IT skills, including establishing, developing and maintaining databases
  3. Good financial/accountancy skills
  4. Organised and able to manage own work priorities, and adhere to processes ensuring key targets are consistently met
  5. Good ability to draft complex heads of terms and to understand complex legal agreements and technical reports
  6. Effective understanding of infrastructure demand and ability to analyse, interpret, assess and summarise complex and varied information
  7. Ability to negotiate at a high level with applicants, other organisations and internal delivery units
  8. To be prepared to attend evening and weekend meetings (eg committees & events within the borough) and from time to time and to work hours required to meet pressing deadlines that may exceed contracted hours (desirable)
  9. Ability to carry out required site visits

Operation of the Career Grade

The qualification, experience and competence criteria are set out below:

Salary Scale / Required Qualification, Experience & Competences

Career Grade Level 1

Progression subject to formal interview & assessment
SO1 /
  • First degree or equivalent that would allow entry onto an appropriate RTPI accredited postgraduate degree (desirable)
  • Planning experience
  • Assessment of competence against the Job Description & the Level 1 Person Specification
  • Past performance against targets (for internal assessments only)

Progression subject to assessment by Team LeaderSP Manager
SO2 /
  • Successfully completed 1st year of postgraduate degree (desirable)
  • Infrastructure Delivery experience
  • Assessment of competence against the Job Description & progress towards the Level 2 Person Specification
  • Past performance against targets (for internal assessments only)

Career Grade Level 2

Progression subject to formal interview & assessment
PO1 /
  • First degree or equivalent that would allow entry onto an appropriate RTPI accredited postgraduate degree (desirable)
  • Significant Infrastructure Delivery experience
  • Assessment of competence against the Job Description & the Level 2 Person Specification
  • Past performance against targets (for internal assessments only)

Progression subject to assessment by Team Leader & SP Manager
PO2 /
  • First degree or equivalent that would allow entry onto an appropriate RTPI accredited postgraduate degree (desirable)
  • Significant Infrastructure Delivery experience of negotiating, collecting, monitoring, spending funds
  • Assessment of competence against the Job Description & progress towards the Level 3 Person Specification
  • Past performance against targets (for internal assessments only)

Career Grade Level 3

Progression subject to formal interview & assessment
PO3 /
  • An appropriate RTPI accredited postgraduate degree (desirable)
  • Generally, Substantial post qualification Infrastructure Delivery experience
  • Assessment of competence against the Job Description & the Level 3 Person Specification
  • Past performance against targets (for internal assessments only)

Entry criteria

An officer’s starting Salary Scale entry point will be based on both qualification and experience at the time of employment, in addition to an assessment of their competence against the Job Description & the appropriate Level of the Person Specification. These entry requirements are defined in the table above for each Salary Scale band. Officers will normally start at the bottom of the Salary Scale band that they qualify for.

Progression each year

Decisions on annual progression up the Spinal Points within a Salary Scale band takes place in the normal manner through the council’s process and is unaffected by this career grade scheme.

Assessments to move up to the next Salary Scale band will take place in March of each year alongside the council’s [PDCS] process. If there is a delay in carrying out assessments, any promotion that is awarded will be backdated to 1 April.

An officer who starts employment with the Council between 1 April and 30 September in any year can apply to move in the following March for commencement on 1 April; that is between 6 to 12 months from their start date. An officer who starts employment with the Council between 1 October in one year and 31 March in the following year can apply to move in the subsequent March for commencement on 1 April; that is between 12 to 18 months from their start date.

Officers should only apply to move when they are confident that they have achieved all of the appropriate criteria for the next band (as set out in the table above) as only one application to move to the next Salary Scale band can be made in any 12-month period. The scheme will only allow an officer to move to the next Salary Scale band, it does not allow them to jump a Salary Scale band.

Progression within the Career Grade levels

Movement from Salary ScaleSO1 to SO2 or from PO1 to PO2 will be based on:

  • confirmation that an officer has reached the necessary level of qualification and experience;
  • an explicit assessment, by their Team Leader, of competence against the requirements of the Job Description & satisfactory progress towards the requirements of the relevant Person Specification; and
  • that a satisfactory level and quality of work has been produced over the previous year.

This assessment has to be agreed in writing by the SP Manager. Any appeal against these decisions will be to the Head of Planning, whose decision will be final.

Progression between the Career Grade levels

Movement from Salary SO2 to PO1 or PO2 to PO3 will be based on a formal interview and testing. A decision to allow an officer to move will be based on:

  • confirmation that they have reached the necessary level of qualification and experience;
  • an assessment of demonstrated competence against the requirements of the Job Description & relevant Person Specification; and
  • that a satisfactory level and quality of work has been produced over the previous year.

Any appeal against these decisions will be to the Head of Planning, whose decision will be final.

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