County Council budget Budget planning discussions began for tax year 2024/25 with a predicted deficit of £20million. This meant that serious decisions about money were required across the council.  The budget is in the region of £1 billion but when services are as pared back and tight for money as is currently the case finding £20m cuts is no mean feat.   It will be costing £40m just to stand still in adults and childrens’ social care services due to pressures from increased demand and inflation.

The budget has yet to be agreed at full council but retaining holiday food vouchers for those on free school meals was a top priority during budget planning.  No child should go hungry in Cambridgeshire.  This is not a scheme available everywhere and is one of the things which makes living in Cambridgeshire special. In addition, to the vouchers £2.2m was ring fenced to deliver other anti-poverty initiatives such as benefit maximisation schemes and £1.3m invested in libraries to support vulnerable communities.  As the Director of finance told us, his mother benefited from benefit maximisation advice in a different county; the additional £10 she receives each week has transformed her life.

Liberal Democrats were very clear that more money must be found for highway. In addition to the £30 million annual budget for Highways this year there will be another prioritised investment of £23m into making highways, footpaths, and cycleways safer – there is a government allocation of £2.3m.

Areas for savings include

-Moving to LED street lights (£1m)

-Rationalising office accommodation (£1.5m across three years)

-Reviewing the highest cost childrens placement costs* and home to school transport routes (more than £2m)

-Driving down the amount of bad debt (£0.5m)

-Reviewing income from permits and charges (just under £1m)

Council tax will be increasing by the maximum amount of 4.99% this year.  Circumstances are so challenging for upper tier authorities (County and unitary authorities) that many councils are unable to achieve the legally required balanced budget even with the maximum increase in council tax of 4.99%.  The government has proposed that these councils take on more debt and have been given authority to raise council tax beyond the 4.99% threshold, in some cases by over 10%.  

Cambridgeshire is not in that position but money is tight.  The situation is exacerbated by a government which claims to support housebuilding but has refused to recognise the growing population in the financial settlement the county receives.  

Neighbouring Suffolk County Council are in a far worse position.  They have had to find over £60m in savings, including cutting all arts funding which has hit the headlines.  In addition to that they are proposing £30m cuts to adult social care, where Cambridgeshire is having to spend £40m across adults and childrens services just to stand still.   Since coming to power Liberal Democrats have made careful hard decisions.  We are not in the same dire straits as other councils we have behaved prudently and responsibly however hard that has been at the time.

Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Development, Levelling Up, Housing and Communities announces 150,000 new homes for the greater Cambridgeshire area and a development company to build them.  The current local plan makes provision for 50-60,000 new homes by 2040 in the greater Cambridge area (City and South Cambs), the government wants to supercharge that and build 150,000 homes and is creating a development company to do this. 

I suspect this will be covered in the District Council report but from a county perspective here are some of the implications of the recent announcement.  

From a County Council perspective Cambridgeshire is already one of the few areas nationally delivering on housebuilding targets but we never see that reflected in our financial settlement with government so we are effectively penalised for growth.

The County Council is a major landowner in some of the key areas in the government’s proposal particularly around Addenbrookes.  Whilst this does create some conflict of interest if the County Council was able to work with landowners and government to deliver even some of the key growth targets the profits made from the commercial aspects of this could be reinvested in council services, a development company significantly limits the value the County Council can realise from their land.  This is a complex area, admittedly with conflicts of interest, but with government funding for the County Council so small the council has no choice but to identify where it can generate revenue and losing revenue potential here will impact on the what the County Council can deliver for Cambridgeshire residents.  

A development company means supercharged growth. Decisions about this growth will be taken out of the control or influence of local government and imposed upon us, that means there is no democratic accountability and local voices will not be heard.   I recognise that the layering of Combined authority, County and District Councils and GCP is non ideal but it is all ultimately democratically accountable, a Development Company is not.

I think we can all recognise the tension here.   It is possible to see the need for more housing, we want future generations to be able to afford to live locally but at the same time the rate of change here is difficult to process and every time something is handled in a clumsy way it makes accepting the pace of growth harder.  If local voices are locked out of that it feels as though some really big mistakes might be made.

Personally I would like to see progress on the first 60,000 homes and real focus from the government on solving the problems that growth brings such as transport and water before an additional 90,000 homes are proposed.  I’d also like to see government stopping repeatedly using the issues which flow from the accelerated growth as an opportunity to attack local government in a cynical obviously party political manner.

Public Health Covid and Flu Covid has not gone away. If you are eligible for a vaccination please take up the offer.  Vaccination saves lives. See Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care System for eligibility criteria.

https://www.cpics.org.uk/the-vaccinators/

New Highways maintenance way of working  From April, highways maintenance jobs will be signed off and coordinated by specialist teams rather than Local Highways Officers, though our LHOs will act as intermediaries to keep specialist teams informed of local needs and priorities.  Specialist teams will deal with signs, lines, road surface treatment, path treatment and gullies. Teams have formed in anticipation, and we are all getting familiar with new ways of working. Please bear with the county council during this transition period – and we will do our best to work with parish councils to make the transition.  Please note that logging jobs on the Highways ‘Report a fault’ site is still the right place to make the first request.

Regularizing gully clearing Shocking as it may seem, prior to the 2021 County Council Joint Administration, there was no systematic recording and care of gully maintenance.  As part of a massive overhaul of Highways maintenance systems, within a context of the Conservative’s ‘managed decline’ legacy and a visibly deteriorating network, highways maintenance is transitioning to a more professional and accountable system, though resource remains very stretched and need very high.  

On gullies:  the first step has been to map all the gullies, know where they are and record them on a proper system (‘KaarbonTech’).  An initial program has been put in place to make sure all gullies are cleared every two years.   We’re now recording data with each of those cleans on if the gully was full and needed clearing or not. The next step is to put that together and adopt a smarter gully cleaning regime. Not all gullies need to be emptied every two years, but some will need much more routine work. Key is to build up the data and be smart about where scarce resource is deployed.  All parish clerks should now be receiving cyclical gulley clearance.  Any hot spots should be logged on the Highways reporting site.

I went to Waterbeach to talk to the District Council street sweeping team about the issue of blocked gullies.  The street sweeping team are now on the circulation list for gulley clearance information and are working more closely with the county highways officers.

Histon High Street Flooding the puddle featured at the start of this report is due to a blocked gulley owned by British Telecom.  I’ve been working with the parish council to try to encourage BT to be better neighbours as this flooding has a big impact on the ease with which Histon High Street can be navigated.

Free outdoor learning experiences for disadvantaged young people Cambridgeshire County Council secured £42,000 of funding for disadvantaged young people from the government.  Activities like climbing, canoeing and orienteering will be offered for free at Grafham water. Fully funded residential and day trips will be offered between Jan & March 2024.  Places are available for young people with special educational needs (SEND) and disabilities, young carers and looked after young people and must be aged 11-18 or up to 25 with SEND.  Eligible groups can apply for a place now by emailing gwcbookings@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Biodiversity credits Lower Valley Farm, Fulbourn Arable land at Lower Valley Farm is being transformed into a one-of-a-kind 345-acre biodiversity net gain site. The transition from agriculture to diverse habitats is already underway on half of the former County Farm site. The aim of this project is to increase biodiversity and use it as an opportunity to allow businesses and organisations to buy ‘biodiversity credits’, Network Rail have already signed up to this.   This is a ground breaking initiative.

From January 2024, legislation comes into effect requiring new developments in England to not only provide for nature lost as part of works but to achieve a minimum biodiversity net gain of 10%. As part of the Cambridge South Infrastructure Enhancement scheme, Network Rail has purchased 65 biodiversity units at the Fulbourn site to create an environmental legacy that complements their creation of Hobson’s Park on the Campus.

The Council is working in partnership with ecologists from the property consultancy Bidwells, who are tasked with managing the scheme over the next five years of this thirty-year long commitment to nature recovery. The project’s costs will be met by the developer payments, with additional revenue set to be brought in for the authority. Unlike other prospective biodiversity schemes, the council’s Lower Valley project has already begun making ecological changes on the ground.

Award for Swaffham Prior, the UK’s first retrofitted village heat network, has won the prestigious Edie Net Zero Award for Renewable Energy Project of the Year. A community-led project delivered by Cambridgeshire County Council working in partnership with the Swaffham Prior Community Land Trust, Government and Bouygues Energies and Services Ltd.

INFORMATION

Report a Highways fault If you see a problem; blocked gully/ drain, pot hole or other Highways issue please report it using the tool below. https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/travel-roads-and-parking/roads-and-pathways/roadworks-and-faults

Adult care assessment Call centre: 0345 045 5202  8am – 6pm Mon to Fri,  9am – 1pm Sat https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/adults/organising-care-and-support/care-needs-assessment Do get in touch with me directly if you have any problems, questions or concerns.

I’ve got a problem who do I contact? Organisational structure in Cambridgeshire is complicated, just ask the question.  Email me, a District Councillor or the Parish Clerk we’ll all point you to the right person (or try to).

Climate Emergency the county council wants to hear your thoughts.  What are your ideas?  What have you done?  What projects could do with some help?  The County Council really wants to hear your ideas email climate@cambridgeshire.gov.uk .

Government Structure in Cambridgeshire  detailing responsibilities

County Council; education, transport, highways, heritage, social care, libraries, trading standards, ­waste management, maintaining their estate.

District Council; council tax payments, household bin collections, housing and housing benefits, council leisure facilities, environmental health, residential planning, local emergency, community policing contact point.

Parish/ Community Council; looking after community buildings, open spaces, allotments, play areas, bus shelters, community projects.

Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) ‘The local delivery body for a City Deal with central Government worth up to £500 million over 15 years to deliver infrastructure (decarbonising transport), 44,000 new jobs, 33,500 new homes and 420 additional apprenticeships.’ Partnership between Cambridge City Council, Cambridgeshire County Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council, University of Cambridge

The Combined Authority, Cambridge and Peterborough, our elected Mayor (CPCA)  A board consisting of representatives from the District, City and County Councils and Peterborough Unitary Authority, headed by the Mayor.   Responsible for – Business support, skills, housing, transport strategy-liaising with Department of Transport, environment, international, digital connectivity, resilience, research and strategy and new homes.

Police and Crime Commissioner, Cambridge and Peterborough To support and challenge the Chief Constable to provide effective and efficient policing services for the area.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Fire Authority the governing body responsible for the fire and rescue service, made up of County Councillors and Peterborough City Councillors.