Report of Councillor Carla Hofman and Councillor John Williams to
Parish Councils for March 2023.
This report contains factual information which we hope will be of use and of interest to the parish council and to the wider community of the parish.
For queries pleaser email us at cllr.williamsjg@scambs,gov.uk or cllr.hofman@scambs.gov.uk
Support for residents, businesses and the environment
Reducing fly-tipping, introducing civil parking enforcement, promoting a cleaner, greener future and supporting local residents and businesses in the Cost of Living crisis are among plans for the coming year in the South Cambs’ 2023/24 Budget.
Also, the Council is well underway with an ambitious four-year transformation programme to improve the quality of services while making the most efficient use of funds as possible. The programme is forecast to deliver £2million in savings in the next three years.
A below inflation £5 per year 3.1% increase in Council Tax for the average band D home will ensure essential frontline services continue to be delivered effectively. This equates to £165.31 per year for a band D home – an increase of around 10p per week. The rise continues to maintain the Council’s position in the lowest 25% of taxing District Councils in the country.
Even with this increase it is forecast that there will be a gap in its finances of nearly £4 million by 2027 and not putting up Council Tax would make this considerably worse as the loss of potential income is carried forwarded into later years. The 3.1% Council Tax rise should be viewed against a 10% rise in the cost of living and a 6% rise in wage inflation.
The Council agreed to change its Local Council Tax Support Scheme to enable it to support more residents struggling with their Council Tax payments. A large-scale Council Tax communications campaign is being proposed, to increase the number of eligible people who are aware of, and subsequently claim, financial help towards their Council Tax bill. Deprived areas will be targeted.
The Council also agreed the Budget for managing, repairing and improving the standard of its stock of over 5,600 Council homes and the building of new council housing. Called the Housing Revenue Account, by law it is ring-fenced to finance the Council’s Housing. As a result, rents have to pay for its expenditure. The Council is seeing its housing costs soar. So to avoid having to scale back on repairs, improvements and the building of new Council homes, the Council agreed to raise council rents by 7%, For tenants with the lowest incomes this increase will be paid by the Government through Housing Benefit.
Having successfully doubled the number of new Council homes built in South Cambridgeshire from 35 in 2019/20 to 70 in 2021/22, which has brought the Council stock back to where it was in 2012, the target is now for at least 75 new energy-efficient Council homes to be delivered every year. Moreover during the next two years, more than £2million has been allocated to continue work to retrofit the Council’s existing housing stock, as part of ongoing carbon reduction efforts making it cheaper to live in a Council home.
Council proposes over £200,000 of further cost of living support
Plans for a further cost of living support package for residents, worth more than £200,000 include a roadshow of cost of living talks, support to transform some Warm Hubs into Community Wellbeing Hubs, increasing awareness of Council Tax support, more free energy saving appliances and the creation of a South Cambridgeshire Sustainable Food Network.
The ideas are outlined in a report published by the District Council and will be discussed at the Scrutiny and Overview Committee on the final day of the month, and then at Cabinet on 20 March.
The proposals build-on a package of almost £400,000 of support which was agreed by the Council in November last year. Just over half of that initial funding came from the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care System (ICS) to support community-based programmes tackling prevention and community engagement.
The ICS have indicated that they will provide further grant funding that the Council will bid for, to continue projects for the next financial year, which will continue to focus on prevention of poor health resulting from financial hardship and living in cold homes..
25 Warm Hubs have been running across South Cambridgeshire this winter, with more than 2,000 visits recorded up to the start of February. Run by Cambridgeshire ACRE, they are free cosy spaces which residents of all ages can visit to socialise, work, and catch up with friends. Some could evolve into Community Wellbeing Hubs, offering more services.
There are also plans to expand South Cambridgeshire District Council’s scheme to provide free energy saving appliances to those residents who are only just about managing, next winter. So far this winter, more than 300 South Cambridgeshire residents have been provided with either a slow cooker, electric blanket, or both by the Council. A charitable giving fund, which residents who are able to can donate towards as part of this scheme, has raised nearly £2,000 and remains open.
Finally, funds are also being proposed to help create a South Cambridgeshire Sustainable Food Network. The idea would be to link-up all the existing foodbanks in the district, creating a network of support for each other – with the over-riding aim of distributing food that would otherwise end-up being thrown away. The network would also look to create links with local farmers to donate excess food that is not suitable for supermarkets, encourage communities to grow fresh vegetables for the most vulnerable, and promote healthy eating and more plant-based diets. This network would be a key part of the emerging South Cambridgeshire Sustainable Food Strategy, which is being developed by the District Council and set to be discussed by its Climate and Environment Advisory Group in April.
Zero Tolerance
South Cambridgeshire Councillors have agreed to take a zero-tolerance approach to abuse and intimidation of councillors and council staff as part of a national campaign.
The move comes amid local government figures which reveal that nationally seven in 10 councillors have experienced abuse and intimidation in the last 12 months and one in 10 experience abuse frequently.
The movement is spearheaded by the Local Government Association (LGA). Plans include:
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- Writing to the Government asking them to work with the LGA to address abuse and intimidation of politicians.
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- Regularly reviewing support available to councillors in relation to abuse, intimidation, and councillor safety.
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- Working with the local police to ensure a clear mechanism for reporting threats and other concerns about the safety of councillors and their families.
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- Taking a zero-tolerance approach to abuse of councillors and officers.
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- Debate Not Hate is raising public awareness of the role of councillors in local communities, encouraging healthy debate and aims to improve the response to, and support for, local politicians facing abuse and intimidation.
Rural Bus Summit
Cllr John Williams as the Lead Cabinet Member for Resources attended a Rural Bus Summit for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough organised by the Campaign for Better Transport. Present were Directors of all the bus companies and community transport providers operating in the area, lead officers and councillors of Peterborough and Cambridgeshire and all the District Councils (with the exception of East Cambridgeshire), the Greater Cambridge Partnership, the Combined Authority, the Bus and Coach Council, Transport Focus, Bus Users UK, the Department for Transport and the Department for Education and the NHS.
The purpose of the Summit was to implement the One Transport Need One Transport solution model in Cambridgeshire. This brings together the resources currently available to provide an integrated bus network in rural areas – such as using school transport and the NHS fleet of patient transport vehicles more effectively for everyone – to be co-ordinated by the Combined Authority.
John was able to get some time with Stagecoach’s Group Commercial Director and Stephensons’ Managing Director to lobby for the return of timetables on bus stops served by their buses. This was supported by Transport Focus which said that timetables and shelters at bus stops were in the top five concerns about travelling by bus in rural areas.. Conversely both A2B and Whippet supported this.
Carla & John