Article published on LinkedIn 18th March 2024

County council amends methodology following EHP reps

EHP recently submitted written reps to Gloucestershire County Council (‘GCC’) during its consultation regarding proposed changes to its Pupil Product Ratios (‘PPRs’). We set out that the proposed GCC PPR for secondary education did not accurately reflect Department for Education data.

GCC responded as follows: “The issues raised within your representation have been considered and we have amended the proposed Pupil Product Ratio for secondary education accordingly.”

GCC also provided the following commentary: “A representation was received which queried the proposed Department for Education PPR rate used for secondary education. A value of 15 was stated within the original report, however it was suggested that the value of 14.7 should be used to maintain consistency with the Department for Education data published in August 2023. The County Council acknowledges that values should not be rounded to the nearest full number and decimals should be used to ensure consistency with national guidance. The decision report and position statement has therefore been amended to reflect this new value. The revised financial implications of using this amended value for secondary education have also been updated accordingly.”

“It should be noted that the use of DfE pupil yield data will reduce the financial value of developer contributions sought by the county council when compared with GCC’s existing Interim Position, but the weight afforded to the national data set should reduce the frequency of challenges made by developers in response to the financial requests through the planning process. This should result in fewer planning appeals.”

As part of our rolling, UK-wide research programme incorporating all LEA areas EHP monitors the different pupil yield methodologies used by LEAs when assessing the impact of new residential developments on local school places. The pupil yield factors or pupil product ratios show significant variance between different LEA areas and our comprehensive research demonstrates how many of the LEAs’ pupil yield methodologies are often either out-of-date or are not derived from a robust, evidence-driven approach and hence are open to scrutiny. As a result some LEAs request levels of S106 education contributions from new residential developments which are unduly onerous and are not justified.

EHP has developed a unique, expanded methodology within our Education Impact & Mitigation Assessments ® which enables us to review the range of assessment parameters that LEAs use when seeking to secure S106 education contributions from new residential developments. If you or your client have a residential development site in Gloucestershire where S106 education contributions have been requested, or if you are about to submit a planning application and would like our advice on the amount of financial contributions for education or healthcare infrastructure that may be sought, please contact Oliver Nicholson our Strategy Director at oliver.nicholson@ehp-consultants.com or 07985 065468 for an initial free consultation.

In the last 12 months EHP has assessed over 34,000 dwellings on our clients' residential development sites. Our team has successfully completed more than 950 site-specific analyses across the UK.

EHP Consultants : The home of social infrastructure analysis ®  ⌂  www.ehp-consultants.com  ⌂  LinkedIn

Article published on LinkedIn 28th February 2024

County council to change pupil yield methodology

EHP understands that Gloucestershire County Council (‘GCC’) is due to announce a significant change to its pupil yield methodology for assessing the impact of new residential developments on local school places. The evidence base of GCC’s previous methodology came under intense scrutiny from EHP and others before GCC published its current Interim Statement regarding local pupil product ratios (‘PPRs’) in 2021.

An announcement on GCC’s website stated: “PPRs are used to estimate the impact of new development on school capacity and in turn justify the developer contributions being sought towards the provision of additional education infrastructure. The last PPR Position Statement was published by GCC in 2021. The Dept. for Education (DfE) published guidance on ‘Securing Developer Contributions for Education’ and a new Pupil Yield dashboard for all Education Authority areas in August 2023 and this provides the most up to date and robust base information for PPRs. This report will recommend updating the PPRs in line with the DfE’s figures, with a view to the PPRs becoming a part of GCC’s Local Development Guide as that document is reviewed in 2024.”

EHP intends to comment on GCC’s pending PPR decision report when it is published. If GCC’s revised approach aligns with the DfE methodology for Gloucestershire then this could lead to the following changes:

• Primary Education: 38.5 reduced to 30 pupil places per 100 dwellings (a reduction of 22%)
• Secondary Education: 17 reduced to 14.7 pupil places per 100 dwellings (a reduction of 13%)
• Sixth Form Education: 6 reduced to 5 pupil places per 100 dwellings (a reduction of 16%)

EHP is also one of the consultees due to be approached by GCC as part of the county’s Local Development Guide consultation later in 2024.

As part of our rolling, UK-wide research programme incorporating all LEA areas EHP monitors the different pupil yield methodologies used by LEAs when assessing the impact of new residential developments on local school places. The pupil yield factors or pupil product ratios show significant variance between different LEA areas and our comprehensive research demonstrates how many of the LEAs’ pupil yield methodologies are often either out-of-date or are not derived from a robust, evidence-driven approach and hence are open to scrutiny. As a result some LEAs request levels of S106 education contributions from new residential developments which are unduly onerous and are not justified.

EHP has developed a unique, expanded methodology within our Education Impact & Mitigation Assessments ® which enables us to review the range of assessment parameters that LEAs use when seeking to secure S106 education contributions from new residential developments. If you or your client have a residential development site in Gloucestershire where S106 education contributions have been requested, or if you are about to submit a planning application and would like our advice on the amount of financial contributions for education or healthcare infrastructure that may be sought, please contact Oliver Nicholson our Strategy Director at oliver.nicholson@ehp-consultants.com or 07985 065468 for an initial free consultation.

In the last 12 months EHP has assessed over 34,000 dwellings on our clients' residential development sites. Our team has successfully completed more than 950 site-specific analyses across the UK.

EHP Consultants : The home of social infrastructure analysis ®  ⌂  www.ehp-consultants.com  ⌂  LinkedIn

Article published on LinkedIn 14th August 2023

Latest DfE guidance adds to the S106 education contributions debate

Last week the Department for Education published its latest non-statutory guidance seeking to help local authorities secure developer contributions for education infrastructure to mitigate the impact of housing development. As part of this announcement the DfE has also now published its long-awaited guidance on estimating pupil yield from housing development, together with a dashboard which provides baseline pupil yield factors for all individual local authority areas, “which local authorities can choose to adopt, supplement and update over time, or produce alternative local pupil yield evidence”.

As part of our rolling, UK-wide research programme incorporating Local Education Authority (LEA) areas EHP monitors the different pupil yield methodologies used by LEAs when assessing the impact of new residential developments on local school places. The pupil yield factors or pupil product ratios show significant variance between different LEA areas and our comprehensive research demonstrates how many of the LEAs’ pupil yield methodologies are often either out-of-date or are not derived from a robust, evidence-driven approach and hence are open to scrutiny.

As a result some LEAs request levels of S106 education contributions from new residential developments which are unduly onerous and are not justified.

EHP has developed a unique, expanded methodology within our Education Impact & Mitigation Assessments ® which enables us to review the range of assessment parameters that LEAs use when seeking to secure S106 education contributions from new residential developments. If you or your client have a residential development site where S106 education or healthcare contributions have been requested, or if you are about to submit a planning application and would like our advice on the amount of financial contributions for education or healthcare infrastructure that may be sought, please contact Oliver Nicholson our Strategy Director at oliver.nicholson@ehp-consultants.com or 07985 065468 for an initial free consultation.

In the last 12 months EHP has assessed over 34,000 dwellings on our clients' residential development sites. Our team has successfully completed more than 950 site-specific analyses across the UK.

EHP Consultants : The home of social infrastructure analysis ®  ⌂  www.ehp-consultants.com  ⌂  LinkedIn

Article published on LinkedIn 20th July 2022

School expansions under scrutiny as pupil numbers set to fall by 12%

According to the latest Department for Education pupil projections published in July the population in state-funded schools is projected to decrease by 12% over the next ten years to 2032. This equates to a significant reduction of circa 944,000 pupils in state-funded education.

As part of our rolling, UK-wide research programme incorporating all Local Education Authority areas EHP monitors the different methodologies used by LEAs when assessing the impact of new residential developments on local school places.

EHP also has extensive knowledge of preparing complex, sequential pupil forecasts showing the cumulative demand for school places as a result of new houses being built and occupied.

This experience enables us to advise our clients on whether and when any additional school places may be needed, including whether S106-based funding for the permanent expansion of existing schools may or may not be justified. We have assessed over 34,000 dwellings on our clients' residential development sites in the last 12 months.

If you are about to submit a planning application for a residential development or are considering putting a site forward for inclusion within a Local Plan please contact Oliver Nicholson our Strategy Director at oliver.nicholson@ehp-consultants.com or 07985 065468 for an initial free consultation. Our team has successfully completed more than 950 site-specific analyses across the UK.

EHP Consultants : The home of social infrastructure analysis ®  ⌂  www.ehp-consultants.com  ⌂  LinkedIn

Article published on LinkedIn 31st January 2022

Small is beautiful

According to the latest information from the Department for Education there are 2,389 primary schools with 105 or fewer pupils on roll in England, making up more than 14% of all primary schools. These small primary schools of half-form entry (0.5FE) or less are often located in smaller settlements rather than in larger settlements where 1FE and 2FE primary schools are typically more prevalent.

Whilst the DfE’s inclusion of a “sparsity factor” currently provides additional funding for schools that are both small and remote, new residential developments may bring additional pupils and this can have positive, long-term benefits regarding school financial viability – particularly for smaller schools when they have a significant number of surplus places and may struggle to gain adequate funding.

If you are about to submit a planning application for a small to medium-scale residential development in or near a small settlement and would like advice on the potential positive, long-term benefits your residential development site may have on local schools please contact Oliver Nicholson our Strategy Director at oliver.nicholson@ehp-consultants.com or 07985 065468 for an initial free consultation. We have assessed over 34,000 dwellings on our clients' residential development sites in the last 12 months. Our team has successfully completed more than 950 site-specific analyses across the UK.

EHP Consultants : The home of social infrastructure analysis ®  ⌂  www.ehp-consultants.com  ⌂  LinkedIn

Article published on LinkedIn 29th September 2021

The lack of education infrastructure as a reason for refusal

This year EHP has been instructed by our clients on an increasing number of residential development planning applications where the local education authority has referred to an inability for the housing site to mitigate its impact on local school places, thereby enabling the local planning authority to cite the lack of education infrastructure as a potential reason for refusal.

As part of EHP’s rolling, UK-wide research programme we continually monitor the local social infrastructure requirements arising as a result of residential developments. One aspect of our research this year shows that citing a lack of education infrastructure as a reason for refusal appears to be more common in unitary authorities where the working relationship between the local education authority and local planning authority is often closer than in other local authority areas.

EHP has developed a unique, expanded methodology within our Education Impact & Mitigation Assessments ® which enables us to review whether and how a housing site can successfully mitigate its impact on local education infrastructure. Our detailed analyses include a review of whether any local constraints exist which could prevent the creation of additional school places and whether there are other potential mitigation options which the local education authority has not previously considered.

If you have a residential development site where a lack of education infrastructure has been cited as a potential reason for refusal please contact Oliver Nicholson our Strategy Director at oliver.nicholson@ehp-consultants.com or 07985 065468 for an initial free consultation. We have assessed over 23,000 dwellings on our clients' residential development sites in the last 12 months. Our team has successfully completed more than 850 site-specific analyses across the UK.

EHP Consultants : The home of social infrastructure analysis ®  ⌂  www.ehp-consultants.com  ⌂  LinkedIn

Article published on LinkedIn 14th June 2021

Concerns over County’s evidence base

Hertfordshire County Council is proposing a new Guide to Developer Infrastructure Contributions and EHP was one of the consultees approached by HCC as part of the associated consultation exercise.

HCC has now published its latest Statement of Consultation which includes details that HCC “is undertaking a detailed Pupil Yield Study of new developments across Hertfordshire. Once this work is complete, the county council will create a model based on actual observed pupil yields...The county council currently plans to move to this new model in autumn 2021”.

EHP has concerns that HCC’s GRIPE (Growth, Infrastructure, Planning & The Economy) Cabinet Panel is being asked to approve the new HCC Guide to Developer Infrastructure Contributions (a) before the completed HCC Pupil Yield Study is available for scrutiny and (b) before feedback is available from relevant stakeholders regarding the completed Study.

As a consequence we have provided our formal feedback to HCC regarding the draft Guide to Developer Infrastructure Contributions and related material that “some of the content in this iteration is either incomplete or has not been provided at this stage, we will comment in due course when this evidence becomes available”.

EHP understands that a presentation including some of the consultee feedback will be made to HCC’s GRIPE Cabinet Panel on Tuesday 22nd June. As part of EHP’s regular review and assessment of all local education authorities’ methodologies we will be reviewing any later HCC material, including the pending completed Pupil Yield Study, as it arises. Our current and future objective on behalf of our clients will be to seek to ensure that local landowners and developers only provide the amount of S106 contributions for additional education infrastructure that is justified and necessary.

In the last 12 months EHP has assessed over 23,000 dwellings on our clients' residential development sites. Our team has successfully completed more than 850 site-specific analyses across the UK.

EHP has developed a unique, expanded methodology within our Education Impact & Mitigation Assessments ® which enables us to review the range of assessment parameters that LEAs use when seeking to secure S106 education contributions from new residential developments. If you or your client have a residential development site where S106 education or healthcare contributions have been requested, or if you are about to submit a planning application and would like our advice on the amount of financial contributions for education or healthcare infrastructure that may be sought, please contact Oliver Nicholson our Strategy Director at oliver.nicholson@ehp-consultants.com or 07985 065468 for an initial free consultation.

EHP Consultants : The home of social infrastructure analysis ®  ⌂  www.ehp-consultants.com  ⌂  LinkedIn

Article published on LinkedIn 28th May 2021

Too much, too soon

Pupil yield is one of the range of assessment parameters that Local Education Authorities (LEAs) use when seeking to set out a position that S106 education contributions are necessary to create additional educational infrastructure in order to meet the needs arising from new residential developments.

More than 2 years have passed since the Department for Education announced plans for an “emerging national methodology for the calculation of pupil yields from housing development”.

In the meantime all LEAs are continuing to use their own pupil yield methodologies.

As part of our rolling, UK-wide research programme incorporating all LEA areas EHP monitors the different pupil yield methodologies used by LEAs when assessing the impact of new residential developments on local school places. The pupil yield factors or pupil product ratios show significant variance between different LEA areas and our comprehensive research demonstrates how many of the LEAs’ pupil yield methodologies are often either out-of-date or are not derived from a robust, evidence-driven approach and hence are open to scrutiny.

As a result some LEAs request levels of S106 education contributions from new residential developments which are unduly onerous and are not justified.

EHP has developed a unique, expanded methodology within our Education Impact & Mitigation Assessments ® which enables us to review the range of assessment parameters that LEAs use when seeking to secure S106 education contributions from new residential developments. If you or your client have a residential development site where S106 education or healthcare contributions have been requested, or if you are about to submit a planning application and would like our advice on the amount of financial contributions for education or healthcare infrastructure that may be sought, please contact Oliver Nicholson our Strategy Director at oliver.nicholson@ehp-consultants.com or 07985 065468 for an initial free consultation.

In the last 12 months EHP has assessed over 23,000 dwellings on our clients' residential development sites. Our team has successfully completed more than 850 site-specific analyses across the UK.

EHP Consultants : The home of social infrastructure analysis ®  ⌂  www.ehp-consultants.com  ⌂  LinkedIn

Article published on LinkedIn 31st March 2021

Surplus, what surplus?

As part of our rolling, UK-wide research programme incorporating all Local Education Authority (‘LEA’) areas, EHP has been tracking an increase in the number of education authorities who seek to retain a ‘surplus buffer’ of school places when assessing the impact of new residential developments. This approach is one of the range of assessment parameters that different LEAs use when seeking to set out a position that S106 education contributions are necessary to meet the needs arising from new housing. Our research shows that the manner and extent to which this ‘surplus buffer’ parameter is applied often varies significantly between education authorities and in our experience the quality and robustness of the evidence supporting its use is often open to scrutiny.

EHP has developed a unique, expanded methodology within our Education Impact & Mitigation Assessments ® which enables us to review the range of assessment parameters that LEAs use when seeking to secure S106 education contributions from new residential developments.

If you have a residential development site where S106 education or healthcare contributions have been requested, or if you are about to submit a planning application and would like advice on the amount of financial contributions for education or healthcare infrastructure that are likely to be sought, please contact Oliver Nicholson our Strategy Director at oliver.nicholson@ehp-consultants.com or 07985 065468 for an initial free consultation. Our team has successfully completed more than 750 site-specific analyses across the UK.

EHP Consultants : The home of social infrastructure analysis ®  ⌂  www.ehp-consultants.com  ⌂  LinkedIn

Article published on LinkedIn 12th February 2021

City Council concludes public consultation on its Draft Revised Planning Obligations SPD

Newcastle City Council recently held a 7-week public consultation regarding its Draft Revised Planning Obligations SPD which ended on 27th January 2021. Numerous changes are proposed since the last SPD was published in 2016 and many of these changes would increase the amount of S106 contributions that landowners and developers could be asked to provide when bringing forward new residential developments.

EHP were instructed by a local landowner to review the draft revised SPD and provide our commentary on the education-related content. We made representations on several important aspects including, amongst others: the need for greater clarity on how the council would establish whether additional school infrastructure is required; the need for visibility on whether and how the council would take into account previous funding for new school places; greater visibility of how the council intends to use school forecasts to assess the need for S106 contributions for additional school infrastructure; whether the council will take into account education-related CIL receipts from previous developments; our analysis and observations regarding the relative costs per pupil place for new schools versus existing school expansion; and the need for a regional adjustment regarding the council’s education infrastructure cost calculations.

At EHP Consultants we regularly review Supplementary Planning Documents, Infrastructure Delivery Plans and other planning policy documents on behalf our clients to analyse and assess the social infrastructure requirements arising as a result of residential development. If you would like us to review any current or potential new planning policy documents to assess the local implications for new education or healthcare infrastructure provision, please contact Oliver Nicholson our Strategy Director at oliver.nicholson@ehp-consultants.com or 07985 065468 for an initial free consultation.

EHP Consultants : The home of social infrastructure analysis ®  ⌂  www.ehp-consultants.com  ⌂  LinkedIn

Article published on LinkedIn 3rd February 2021

County Council announces latest public consultation regarding Developer Contributions

Hertfordshire County Council is currently reviewing its Developer Contributions Toolkit having previously undertaken a consultation exercise which concluded in September 2019. EHP understands that a presentation of the latest findings will be made to HCC’s GRIPE (Growth, Infrastructure, Planning & The Economy) Cabinet Panel on Thursday 4th February and a video link will be available. EHP also understands that HCC is due to publish a Statement of Consultation on Friday 5th February and undertake a further 6-week consultation exercise with the objective of publishing a new Developer Contributions Guide during the summer of 2021.

As part of EHP’s regular review and assessment of all local education authorities’ methodologies, we will be reviewing all of the latest, new material as it arises. Our objective on behalf of our clients will be to seek to ensure that local landowners and developers only provide the amount of S106 contributions for additional education infrastructure that is justified and necessary.

At EHP Consultants we have in-depth experience of analysing and assessing the social infrastructure requirements arising as a result of residential development. If you have a residential development site in Hertfordshire where S106 education or healthcare contributions have been requested, or if you are about to submit a planning application in Hertfordshire and would like advice on the amount of financial contributions for education or healthcare infrastructure that are likely to be sought, please contact Oliver Nicholson our Strategy Director at oliver.nicholson@ehp-consultants.com or 07985 065468 for an initial free consultation.

EHP Consultants : The home of social infrastructure analysis ®  ⌂  www.ehp-consultants.com  ⌂  LinkedIn

Article published on LinkedIn 22nd Jan 2021

The potential for new school provision - whether, where and when

As large residential development sites come forward they are often asked to provide land for new education infrastructure; thereby enabling new primary, secondary or all-through schools to be built. This provision can help meet the educational needs of local children living on these and other new developments; however, it is essential for any new schools to become operational at an appropriate location and at the appropriate time.

For example, if a new school opens before a sufficient number of new dwellings are occupied then there is a risk of undermining the existing, local schools if parents consider moving their children to the new school. If the delivery of a new school is premature then the associated demands for funding from the housing developer may also be unduly onerous.

EHP has extensive knowledge of preparing complex, sequential pupil forecasts showing the cumulative demand for school places as a result of new houses being built and occupied. This experience enables us to advise our clients on whether, where and when any additional school places may be needed, including the potential provision of land for new schools. Our team has successfully completed more than 750 site-specific analyses across the UK.

If you are bringing forward a residential development site where the local education authority has requested land for educational use and you would like advice on the potential size of land, location, timing of delivery and level of funding required for a new school, please contact Oliver Nicholson our Strategy Director at oliver.nicholson@ehp-consultants.com or 07985 065468 for an initial free consultation.

EHP Consultants : The home of social infrastructure analysis ®  ⌂  www.ehp-consultants.com  ⌂  LinkedIn

Article published on LinkedIn 21st Dec 2020

Council’s revised pupil yield methodology may lead to unduly onerous S106 contributions

Peterborough City Council recently revised the child yield multipliers which are used to calculate the level and type of local education infrastructure required to mitigate the impact of new residential developments. The new child yield multipliers represent a significant increase compared with previous figures and will lead to a marked increase in the amount of financial contributions that the council will seek.

As part of EHP’s regular review and assessment of all local education authorities’ methodologies, including the authorities which Peterborough cited as a partial basis on which to justify these new child yield multipliers, our detailed research concludes that local landowners and developers may be asked to provide more S106 contributions for local education infrastructure than is necessary.

At EHP Consultants we have in-depth experience of analysing and assessing the social infrastructure requirements arising as a result of residential development. Our team has successfully completed more than 750 site-specific analyses across the UK. If you have a residential development site in the Peterborough area where S106 education contributions have been requested, or if you are about to submit a planning application and would like advice on the amount of financial contributions for education infrastructure that are likely to be sought, please contact Oliver Nicholson our Strategy Director at oliver.nicholson@ehp-consultants.com or 07985 065468 for an initial free consultation.

EHP Consultants : The home of social infrastructure analysis ®  ⌂  www.ehp-consultants.com  ⌂  LinkedIn

Article published on LinkedIn 18th Nov 2020

Concerns over County Council's new S106 education contributions methodology

Derbyshire County Council recently revised its S106 education contributions methodology. This methodology is used by the county when seeking financial contributions to mitigate the impacts of new housing development on local education infrastructure. As part of EHP’s regular review and assessment of all local education authorities’ methodologies, our detailed research into the latest Derbyshire methodology concludes that developers are now likely to be asked to provide more financial contributions for education infrastructure than is necessary.

At EHP Consultants our team has significant experience of conducting detailed education impact assessments for residential development sites in Derbyshire. Our experience also includes negotiating with officers at Derbyshire County Council regarding S106 education contributions. If you have a residential development site in Derbyshire where S106 education contributions have been requested, or if you are about to submit a planning application and would like advice on the amount of financial contributions for education infrastructure that are likely to be sought, please contact Oliver Nicholson our Strategy Director at oliver.nicholson@ehp-consultants.com or 07985 065468 for an initial free consultation.

EHP Consultants : The home of social infrastructure analysis ®  ⌂  www.ehp-consultants.com  ⌂  LinkedIn

Published on LinkedIn 3rd Nov 2020

Article highlights key concerns about proposed new infrastructure levy

A thought-provoking summary from Planning magazine highlights key concerns from various sector bodies about the government's proposed new infrastructure levy, including the obvious concern that a nationally-set levy "does not allow for local variation".

At EHP Consultants our team has significant experience of conducting detailed education and healthcare impact assessments for residential development sites. If you have a residential development site and would like advice on the amount of financial contributions for social infrastructure that are likely to be sought, please contact Oliver Nicholson our Strategy Director at oliver.nicholson@ehp-consultants.com or 07985 065468 for an initial free consultation.

EHP Consultants : The home of social infrastructure analysis ®  ⌂  www.ehp-consultants.com  ⌂  LinkedIn

Article published on LinkedIn 29th Oct 2020

County Council to revise S106 education contributions policy

Staffordshire County Council is currently consulting on its revised policy to seek financial contributions for education infrastructure to mitigate new housing development. The consultation ends on Monday 23rd November 2020. If adopted, the revised policy is likely to lead to an increase in the amount of education contributions which are sought from residential development sites in Staffordshire.

At EHP Consultants our team has significant experience of conducting detailed education impact assessments for residential development sites in Staffordshire. Our experience also includes negotiating with officers at Staffordshire County Council regarding S106 education contributions and, where necessary, acting as expert witness at subsequent planning appeals. If you have a residential development site in Staffordshire where S106 education contributions have been requested, or if you are about to submit a planning application and would like advice on the amount of financial contributions for education infrastructure that are likely to be sought, please contact Oliver Nicholson our Strategy Director at oliver.nicholson@ehp-consultants.com or 07985 065468 for an initial free consultation.

EHP Consultants : The home of social infrastructure analysis ®  ⌂  www.ehp-consultants.com  ⌂  LinkedIn