 | Ros Hathorn, 76 Cambridge Road, Impington, Cambridge CB24 9NU Ros.Hathorn@cambridgeshire.gov.uk Tel: 07548 745197 https://hiopcouncillors.org |
CONTENTS: Bus Franchising, County Council Budget, Waterbeach Busway, Street light bulb replacement, The Core Orchard Park, Mill Road Bridge Closure, HIU team, Devolution in England
The decision to move to Bus Franchising for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough was progressed on Thursday 6 February. The decision can be undone post election mayoral elections in May but would require a mirror image repeat of autumn’s consultation to reverse the process.
There were over 1600 responses to the public consultation on bus franchising with 63% of responses in favour, 18 ambivalent and 14% strongly opposed. This decision has the potential to transform public transport in the area.
The county council’s budget coming to full council on Tuesday 11 February responds to a £35.1 million budget gap caused by increased demand for services, complexity of need, inflation and market failures.
The proposed budget includes an investment of more than £56m in highways maintenance to tackle the significant backlog of repairs, addressing resident concerns. This includes £14.5m for the day-to-day management of the highway and an additional £20million in planned maintenance of the highway including roads, pavements, drainage, bridges, safety barriers, traffic signals, public rights of way and cycleways.
The business plan proposals include £3m funding to cover inflation for local care providers and an extra £8m funding for the 5% increase in the Real Living Wage.
There are also proposals for £9m for children who become looked after and £4.7m to support home to school transport services. In addition, an estimated £6m of Household Support Fund will be delivered to support those most in need alongside investment in further improvements in our libraries through £1.3m already committed to the Libraries Plus programme.
The Conservative opposition have effectively endorsed the budget by failing to come up with any credible alternative budget despite having direct access to finance officers to support them in the process. Instead opposition councillors have proposed 11 amendments each one proposing a figure of between £.5 – £6m redirected to their local area.
Waterbeach busway – the decision to progress this scheme will also be taken at full council with a recommendation passing the next phase of the programme decision to the Department of Transport. I am in support of this scheme but recognise the importance of playing close attention to the local impact particularly during the design and construction periods.
Street light bulb replacement. Work started in earnest in the New Year to replace the majority of the county’s streetlighting with newer, more efficient LED (light emitting diode) lights which can cut energy consumption from street lighting by more than half.
Cambridgeshire County Council is responsible for more than 53,500 streetlights across the county, managed by Balfour Beatty, approximately 47,500 of which will be replaced by LED replacements under this scheme.
Reducing the existing carbon usage of streetlights is vital to achieving our goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2030, and in addition to the environmental benefit, the installation of energy-saving LED lighting will help to significantly reduce future spending on streetlighting.
It will take around two years to replace all 47,500 streetlights with LEDs; we’re expecting the work to be finished by May 2026. This has been controversial in places due to variation in the quality of light. Meanwhile in Orchard Park we are still challenging developers to ensure that all street lights work. I have personally followed up on 4 locations in the last week.
The Core, Orchard Park. I was thrilled to attend the opening of The Core a new community room at the infant school in Orchard Park. This was funded by a grant from the County Council, awarded by the Communities committee on which I sit. Sadly the County Council budget no longer stretches to offering community grants but it is great to see a positive local outcome from an historic scheme. The space has a small play area, comfortable seating, accessible entry and exit doors have been built, as well as a disabled toilet with nappy changing facilities, isolated security for use outside school hours, and a new kitchen for serving drinks and snacks. Prices range from £8- £15 per hour and can be booked by emailing thecore@orchardpark.cambs.sch.uk
Mill Road bridge closure. A phased approach has been taken to the closure of Mill Road bridge to non authorised traffic. Warning notices will be issued to drivers crossing the bridge with fines due to be issued from late March 2025.
County Farms Annual Tenants Meeting – the County Council has the largest farm estate of any council in the country. As committee chair of the Assets and Procurement Committee I attended the other meeting These farms feed the nations but also offer opportunities to farmers to do a variety of different things including developing new more sustainable farming methods. We had
HIU team A new specialist team is helping to reduce avoidable visits to Accident and Emergency (A&E) departments across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
Known as the High Impact Use team (HIU), the service is a partnership between NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough and Cambridgeshire County Council (who host the service) on behalf of the Integrated Care System (ICS). This service helps those who often attend A&E for reasons that extend beyond medical interventions and for needs which would be better met by other professionals.
Since its launch in October 2024, the HIU team found that many of the frequent visitors to A&E at Peterborough City, Hinchingbrooke, and Addenbrooke’s Hospitals were experiencing issues such as loneliness, financial problems, and poor physical and mental health, rather than medical emergencies that require urgent hospital care.
The HIU team works alongside partners to build a trusted relationship with each person identified as requiring non-clinical support through their frequent attendances at A&E, creating an open, person-centred approach to help meet the individuals’ needs.
Devolution in England the most significant but most overlooked part of the government’s approach to local government reform is that devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a national parliament. Devolution in England is loads and loads of powers going to combined authority mayors whilst at the same time in most places no one really knows who the mayor is or what they do and whether or not they get re-elected has little to do with their manifesto or performance in the job and far more to do with the wider political winds. If you have concerns about this please write to your MP.
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.
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).
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.
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