A campaign group has praised Oxfordshire County Council after the authority received heavy criticism for having hundreds of millions of pounds in unspent cash.

This came after a Freedom of Information request by the Home Builders Federation (HBF) revealed that Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) is holding the largest amount of unspent Section 106 money among all respondents at £287.5m.

Section 106 money is a type of funding in which housebuilders pay for community and social facilities as part of an agreement to serve new developments.

OCC said the figure revealed in the Freedom of Information request was from 2022/23 and that the 2023/24 figure sits at £260,831,978. 

But critics have pointed the finger at the authority questioning why the public money has not been spent sooner on facilities which will benefit the wider public. 

Councillor Eddie Reeves, leader of the county's Conservative group, described it is a "shocking indictment of the planning system", and Conservative Bicester town councillor Sam Holland said the unspent developer money is a "complete betrayal" of the people in the county.

READ MORE: Cyclox calls for more safety measures after Summertown crash

However, Planning Oxfordshire's Environment and Transport Sustainably (POETS) said it is "very pleasing" that the county council has done "so well" in gathering funds for developers for "vital public services".

POETS, a group of senior planning, environment and transport professionals and academics focussed primarily on planning and transport in Oxfordshire, said this has happened "over many years" and that this unspent money "should come as no surprise". 

POETS member David Young, the former director of environmental services at Oxfordshire County Council, said: “We are actually pleased that the county council has done so well in gathering funds for developers for vital public services over the years.

"County and districts councils have cooperated really well to do this over this period and, for instance, many dozens of schools and local transport facilities have already been provided on the ground in this way - and at no direct cost to the council taxpayer.

"Some will be ringfenced for specific developments and properly would have to be spent only on those - and perhaps at a specific time.

"Capital projects are expensive. A lot of money needs to be put together in advance: revenue contributions would need to be spent over many years anyway.

"Developer contributions are a vital source of funds at a time of unprecedented and long term restrictions on local government spending by successive Westminster governments. 

"I would expect that the county council keep them under continuous review to ensure they can help to provide vital public services.”

READ MORE: Oxfordshire anger expressed over unspent Section 106 money

He added: "Maybe this is one time when our Oxfordshire councils might be justified in doing a bit of trumpet blowing?"

A spokesman for OCC previously said: "S106 money is held for specific purposes related to development and so cannot be spent on general council services.

"Funding for individual projects will often be assembled from multiple developments meaning we will always need to hold a level of funding before infrastructure can be delivered.

"This year we will deliver £24m of investment from s106 which is ramping up to more than £60m in 2025/26."