Herts could lose out on £100million

10.38.15pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 2nd Apr 2008

Hertfordshire is faced with around 83,000 new homes being built, if the government confirms the numbers in the draft East of England plan. This will place a massive strain on the county and homebuilders will in future have to pay a tariff for each new home, to meet some of the infrastructure costs.

Liberal Democrats have spotted what looks like a very large hole in the calculations that could result in the county missing out on around £100m. For some reason, builders of social housing - housing association etc - get a discount on their obligations, varying from 30% of the amount due for primary education, to 75% for secondary education, compared with developers of homes built for sale. The discount also applies to their contribution to the costs of additional libraries, nursery education, and youth facilities.

LibDem County Councillor Malcolm Cowan said 'At first we were told it was because there were less children in social housing than private homes. This proved not to be the case. I was then told that children in social housing already lived in the area, even before the homes were built.

'With the massive numbers of new homes being inflicted upon us, we cannot afford to have vague justifications left unchallenged.

'The Tory cabinet at the county council has rubber stamped the numbers they have come up with for the development tariff. We are asking for the formulas to be subject to scrutiny by other councillors to make sure we are treating everyone fairly and correctly, and that we do not miss out on such a large amount of money that would help build the facilities that will be needed.

Liberal Democrat leader Chris White added 'given the number of miscalculations that the county council has made over pupil numbers in the last few years, we must go through this with a fine toothcomb. There is too much at stake not to do so.'

For further information, contact Malcolm Cowan 0n 01707-324723.