Cash-strapped Liverpool City Council is owned nearly £6 million from developers, the ECHO can reveal.
The local authority, which next month will agree a budget plan including a further £33m in cuts, is owed a total of £5,986,572 from builders who have been granted planning permission for projects and developments in the city.
We have unearthed this figure using Freedom of Information laws.
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The figure owed comes from unpaid Section 106 payments.
Section 106 payments are legal agreements that see builders and developers made to contribute cash to the local authority which is then used to mitigate the impact of the development on the local area.
This cash, which is agreed as part of a development's planning permission, is used to address issues that may be created by the development, such as creating more public space, road improvements, cycling infrastructure or increasing education or health services.
But as our investigation shows, the council has failed to collect a huge amount that could be used to positively impact the city.
In response to our Freedom of information Request, the council said: "As of November 2021, £5,986,572.09 has been invoiced for and which is outstanding.
"A proportion of the invoices have been raised recently and are expected to be paid in due course.
"The council continues to work pro-actively to collect any outstanding monies owing and will use relevant enforcement procedures on the event of any unauthorised works being undertaken."
In November last year the council came under fire after it was revealed that a major development of more than 250 waterfront flats were approved, with the developer involved only having to pay a fraction of the agreed Section 106 payments.
The council's planning committee gave the green light to development company Glenbrook Property and Barings Real Estate to build 257 apartments on Kings Parade at Queens Dock.
And while the planning report has suggested the £40m scheme should see the developer pay a contribution of £767,000 - this was reduced to just £149,000 and approved by the committee.
Responding to news that the council is owed such a large amount of money from developers, opposition leader, Lib Dem Cllr Richard Kemp said: "This figure also does not include the money where the Council’s planning committee accepted developers’ stories about not being able to afford S106 payments.
"None of this money could have been directly used to keep Council tax down but it could all have been used for capital projects which would have improved the living conditions for residents throughout the City or used to make our council more efficient and cost effective."
A Liverpool City Council spokesperson said: “Liverpool City Council takes the issue of outstanding Section 106 monies very seriously and actively purses these fees.
"Last year the council collected more than £600,000 in S106 fees and just last week approved a £3m programme of environmental improvements, funded by Section 106 fees.
"Unfortunately, some developers will be unable to pay if they have gone into administration and a council has to wait until a new developer takes ownership of the land to pursue the fee. In regards to what has been invoiced, more than 40% of that total is held with companies which have gone into administration. It’s important to note these fees will not be written off.”
