County Councillor Annual Report for Parishes 2025/26 – Cllr Anna Bradnam
County Councillor Annual Report for Parishes 2025:26 – Cllr Anna Bradnam PDF Version
County Council
Local elections took place for all 61 seats on Cambridgeshire County Council on Thursday 1 May 2025. The table below shows the current composition of the Council compared to the election results in May 2021, and to this time last year.
| 2021 | 2025 | Now | |
| Conservatives | 28 | 10 | 10 |
| Liberal Democrats | 20 | 31 | 31 |
| Labour | 9 | 5 | 5 |
| Independent | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Reform UK | 0 | 10 | 9 |
| Non-aligned | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Since the election, the Liberal Democrats and Independents have formed a Liberal Democrat and Independent Group. The election for Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough also took place on Thursday 1 May 2025, with Paul Bristow (Conservative) elected.
1 The Council
1.1 The Liberal Democrat and Independent Group now runs the Council. Our vision is to create a healthy, fair and sustainable Cambridgeshire. I currently sit on Adults and Health Committee and I am a substitute on most of the other Committees whose work is itemised below, as well as the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Health and Wellbeing Board. As local member for the Waterbeach Depot, I am also a part of the Waste Steering Group considering the council’s arrangements for the disposal of recyclable and non-recyclable waste. I remain the County’s nominated member of the Conservators of the River Cam.
1.2 The Council has considered a number of motions. These include opposing any plans to merge our local police force into a larger and more remote body; the need for support for people in mental health crisis or at suicide risk; GP services for growing communities; and flood prevention.
2 Strategy Resources & Performance
2.1 The Council set its budget in February 2026, including record spending on roads, thousands of extra school places, and support for vulnerable residents. The budget included an additional £20 million for highway maintenance, delivery of the council’s climate change and environment strategy, and £11 million to upgrade household recycling centres at Milton and March. £14.7 million of additional funding was allocated for adult social care providers to help them manage rising costs and ensure care workers are paid the Real Living Wage, improving stability and quality for those who depend on care workers for their support. Provision of holiday meal vouchers will continue until the end of summer 2026 for those children most in need, although funded differently. The Government’s replacement Crisis and Resilience Fund is less generous than its predecessor, and is intended to provide a range of anti-poverty measures in addition to feeding children poorer families.
There will be 3,500 new primary school places, and £72 million over five years to increase secondary school places. There will also be continued funding for the Families First early intervention programme that helps keep more families together. And more than £1.2 million will be invested in libraries and archives over the next two years.
2.2 The council ran its third annual Quality of Life survey in 2025, which provides valuable insights into residents’ perspectives and priorities. 5,500 residents (1,100 in each district) were directly polled for their views, and the survey was open in the summer for any other resident.
2.3 Like almost every county and unitary council, the Council increased its portion of council tax by 4.99% in total, comprising 2% for adult social care, and 2.99% for general spending.
3 Adults and Health
3.1 The Adults and Health Committee has a significant role in ensuring that health inequalities are reduced, and that people enjoy healthy, safe, and independent lives through timely support suited to their needs. One of the first decisions of the new 2025 Liberal Democrat administration was to split the committee into two committees—one for its public health, adult social care and procurement responsibilities, and the other (Health Scrutiny) dedicated to the council’s role in scrutinising local NHS services.
3.2 The council’s adult social care services were rated as Good by the Care Quality Commission in summer last year.
3.3 This has been a turbulent time for the Integrated Care Boards (ICBs). ICBs are statutory NHS organisations in England responsible for planning and buying healthcare services for local populations. They replaced Clinical Commissioning Groups in 2022. Last year the Government required enormous in-year and ongoing savings to be made by ICBs. This has resulted in mergers of many ICBs as a way of cutting jobs. Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, instead of having its own ICB, is now part of NHS Central East, which covers Cambs, Pet’, Beds, Luton, Milton Keynes and Herts.
3.4 Primary care provision across Cambridgeshire remains very fragile however, with most residents relying on private dental provision, and many GP practices struggling to deliver services.
3.5 The new Health Scrutiny Committee has held a number of meetings and has invited various health providers and had the opportunity to ask searching questions. Subjects considered have included dentistry, primary care and GP services, and services for young people with autism.
3.6 The future of the Arthur Rank Hospice in Cambridge remains uncertain, after the NHS Trust withdrew over £800,000 of support. A private donation has enabled it to continue for a further year.
4 Assets and Procurement
4.1 The County Council’s Assets and Procurement Committee has agreed a partnership with developer Prologis to support the future expansion of Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
4.2 The council’s Shareholder Sub Committee approved an updated business plan from the council’s wholly-owned company This Land. The current council administration has worked extremely hard to stabilise the company, transforming it from the way it had been set up ten years ago under the then Conservative administration. The updated business plan enables the company to repay interest, reduce the amounts owed to the council, and limit the council’s exposure to risk from the company.
5 Children and Young People
5.1 Like most county councils, Cambridgeshire continues to experience huge financial pressures associated with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, and with the costs of home to school transport. The number of children in Cambridgeshire with an Education Health and Care Plan has grown by 71 per cent between 2020 and 2025. The council invested an additional £780,000 in the autumn to increase capacity to process these plans. The Government will be delivering two new special schools in the county, in Gamlingay and March, with 270 new special school places.
5.2 Cambridgeshire County Council’s services for care leavers have improved since 2024, according to an Ofsted visit in July 2025. They also listed four areas for further improvement.
5.3 In July I was delighted to join Cllrs Jonny Edge and Lorna Dupre at the council’s Children in Care Celebration and Awards at Inflatebounce in Wyton. It was great to see our children enjoying themselves so much and to have a chance to meet and chat to many of our dedicated foster carers.
5.4 A new Community outreach service from the council aims to support and develop the skills of parents and children from 0-5yrs and of the community groups supporting them.
6 COSMIC (Communities, Social Mobility and Inclusion Committee)
6.1 COSMIC has continued to oversee support for people experiencing immediate financial hardship. An increasing number of families are struggling financially at the moment.
6.2 One urgent issue is the sudden spike in the price of domestic heating oil as a result of war in Iran. The council has received £708,000 from the Government which is ring-fenced to support households who are finding it difficult to afford heating oil. The money has been added to the council’s Crisis & Resilience Fund, and applications (for up to £400 per household) are being administered by the Cambridgeshire Community Foundation. Eligibility for this fund is currently restricted to those on specific means-tested benefits. If the Government’s grant were to be shared equally among every household in the county reliant on oil heating, each household would receive less than £27.50, so the council is having to make difficult decisions about priorities.
6.3 The committee has procured an IT system which will enable more systematic and earlier identification of low income households which would benefit from support. South Cambridgeshire District Council has been using this system for a couple of years now, with remarkable results.
6.4 Work is under way to implement the recommendations of Cambridgeshire’s Poverty Strategy Commission. These are grouped into six themes: income maximisation, digital inclusion, rural poverty, housing and homelessness, children and families, and mental health.
6.5 Adult learning services in Cambridgeshire were given a Good rating by Ofsted in spring 2025, with the behaviour and attitude of learners judged to be Outstanding.
7 Environment
7.1 Water scarcity and water management are key issues for Cambridgeshire. Water Resources East is responsible for producing a regional water resources plan for Eastern England, with a combination of infrastructure investment and demand management. Meanwhile, the Fens2100+ project, which brings together a number of agencies to develop a long-term plan to manage future flood risk in the Fens, has published a suite of reports including a Case for Change, Partnership Action Plan, and summary baseline report. The threat of Anglian Water’s wastewater treatment centre moving to Horningsea has been lifted since the government removed the enabling funding.
7.2 Community watercourse grants are available from the council to support communities where the condition of local watercourses is increasing the risk of flooding. These can be used for clearance and maintenance, equipment-hire, contractor support, or training and safety equipment.
7.3 Cambridgeshire County Council is calling on residents to play an active role in restoring local nature as part of the ‘Nature Recovery – From the Ground Up’ project—a new initiative supporting parishes and community groups to design their own Community Nature Recovery Plans. The first phase of the project runs from July 2025 to March 2027, focusing on Cambridge and twenty parishes across East Cambridgeshire, Fenland, Huntingdonshire, and South Cambridgeshire. Other parishes are invited to use the mapping software, and to register interest for future phases of the project.
7.4 Cambridgeshire County Council has been ranked by Climate Emergency UK as one of the top performing councils in the country for the action it has taken towards Net Zero.
7.5 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Waste Partnership (RECAP) is urging residents to recycle batteries and battery-powered electricals safely, following an increase in fires caused by incorrectly disposed-of lithium-ion batteries. UK-wide, over 1,200 waste-related fires were recorded in 2025.
7.6 The Cambridgeshire Digital Inclusion Directory is a guide to help residents get online, access devices, and build essential digital skills. It features trusted local organisations offering free support with digital access, equipment and training. Available at libraries and community hubs, or online.
8 Highways and Transport
8.1 The condition of our roads and footways, as in every county, deteriorated rapidly over the winter. Highways and Transport Committee chair Cllr Alex Beckett has written a very informative explainer article at notesfromalex.substack.com/p/why are-the roads-so-bad-right-now
8.2 The council continues to add more funding to its road maintenance budget, as the funding from Government via the Combined Authority is completely insufficient. Around 35,000 permits for work in the highway are being issued annually in Cambridgeshire and in addition works are undertaken that do not require a permit. Our peat soil roads are a major problem, taking four or five times as much money to repair as regular roads. In 2025/26 the council reconstructed a number of stretches of peat soil road, trialling new methods to increase the stability of these roads. The road network is being reassessed in April/ May, to update the list of capital maintenance priorities for 2027/28.
Capital Maintenance and Improvement programme for 2026/27.
8.3 Cambridge Road/High Street and Ely Road, Milton. The carriageway is badly cracked and potholed. Following my site visit with an officer early in 2025, some large patches were done between the Coles Road and The Rowans (north) junction to improve safety of the carriageway, in advance of major resurfacing works in 2026/27.
8.4 Under the same programme Bannold Road, Waterbeach will have resurfacing during 2026/27.
8.5 In 2026/27 Landbeach – Cottenham Road and Green End Road will have preparation for surface dressing in 2027/28.
8.5 In Milton – James Carlton Close, The Oaks and The Rowans will have surface treatment as a preventative measure.
8.6 Chapel Street, Waterbeach will have (long awaited) drainage design and construction works.
8.7 Highways staffing was reviewed and our new Highways Maintenance Officer is George Carson. A new highways Asset Management System, Aurora, went live in September 2025, enabling better report handling, workflow handling, and performance oversight.
8.8 Highways and Transport Committee on 14 October 2025 approved funding for various highways improvement projects under the 2025/26 programme. Landbeach and Milton were successful in their bids for village-wide 20 mph zones zones, though sadly Horningsea and Fen Ditton’s bids were below the cut line for funding when prioritised against other applications. (Waterbeach had received approval for a village wide 20mph zone under the 2024/25 programme.) Under the Non-Complex list, Milton will receive funding towards double yellow lines on Coles Road, opposite the parish office car park, Landbeach will receive a contribution towards speed buffer zones at both ends of the village. Waterbeach received approval for a combination of speed reduction measures and a Mobile Vehicle Activated Sign.
8.9 New LED street lights are being installed across the county at a rate of about 2,000 per month. Over 47,000 lights will have new components fitted, with the aim of reducing the council’s energy use by one-third. In Milton the parish council negotiated for the reinstatement of some lights that had been removed, which has restored light to some dark areas of the village.
8.10 One of the sadder aspects of being a County Councillor is that I am advised about fatalities on roads in Waterbeach Division. Too often these involve young motorcyclists. I am alarmed by the hazard presented by A10 junctions that we as residents often need to cross daily. I am also mindful of the near-misses and collisions which occur around our villages. I am working with officers to seek replacements of signage which has fallen or been knocked over and requesting cutting back of vegetation to reveal existing warning signs.
8.11 The council is getting tough on utilities companies and developers who overstay their permits to work on the highway or fail to abide by their permit conditions. In 2024/25 the council issued fines totalling £483,000.
9 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA)
9.1 Work is progressing on options for bus franchising, with an update due in June 2026. Meanwhile, thirty-five bus routes in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough are at risk as the Mayor seeks to cut half a million pounds from local bus services. The County Council had to contribute funding to keep the young people’s Tiger Pass going until March 2027.
9.2 The Combined Authority is working on projects including an employment strategy for young people not in education, employment or training; accreditation as a Local Visitor Economy Partnership; and a small trial to install channels in pavements to carry cables for on-street charging of electric vehicles.
9.3 The Mayor wants to dual the A10 between Ely and the A14 at Milton. My colleagues and I have been objecting to this, since it would see new tarmac laid over the remaining open fields between Landbeach and Milton and would separate our villages from their supportive network of schools, shops and services. Quite apart from this, there is currently no funding for dualling, from either the Government or the CPCA, which would have to find 15% of the cost.
- Council reorganisation
10.1 Councils have been responding to the Government’s plan to abolish district and county councils and replace them with unitary authorities. Four options for different ways of carving up our area have been submitted by local councils, and we expect to hear this summer which one the Government has chosen. The County Council submitted ‘Option A’ which would join Cambridge, South Cambridgeshire and East Cambridgeshire in one authority, with Peterborough, Fenland and Huntingdonshire in another.
11 Thank you to the clerks and parish councillors of the five parishes in the Waterbeach division, and the many community organisations, whose hard work helps keep our communities together
Cllr Anna Bradnam anna.bradnam@cambridgeshire.gov.uk 20/04/2026