Tag: Cambridgeshire County Council

Unitary Authority For Greater Cambridge

17:07 Monday 11th November 2013
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[C]HRIS MANN: So, the man who was, until earlier this year, the most powerful politician in Cambridgeshire local government, has declared his support for a radical shake-up, and the abolition of a tier of councils. It would mean an end to Cambridge City Council, East Cambs, South Cambs, Hunts District and Fenland. In their place, former Conservative Leader of the County Council Nick Clarke now favours a new unitary authority for Greater Cambridge, and an enlargement of the one in Peterborough that already exists. He says the move would save money and be more effective. I’ll get reaction live in the studio from the Leader of Cambridge City Council, and the Leader of Huntingdonshire District Council, both with axes apparently poised above their heads. But first of all Nick Clarke. Welcome.
NICK CLARKE: Good afternoon Chris.
CHRIS MANN: You didn’t say this when you were in power.
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Soham Solar One Step Closer

17:25 Tuesday 29th October 2013
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[C]HRIS MANN: Plans for a solar farm near Soham are one step closer after a meeting today. It happened at Cambridgeshire County Council Cabinet meeting. That meeting again! Ian Bates is the Cabinet Member for Growth and Planning, and joins me now. Hello Ian.
IAN BATES: Evening Chris.
CHRIS MANN: Just tell us about this proposal please.
IAN BATES: Well it’s a proposal to bring forward an investment for the County Council on County farmland. And essentially a business plan would have to be put together, and planning would come next year, more towards the Spring of next year, when we would seek planning permission. But essentially what this is is about investment, where we would benefit and put the money back into front line services. So it’s an investment which would benefit the County Council, benefit the taxpayer, and therefore help us towards delivering services on the front line Chris.
CHRIS MANN: You say it would benefit. Don’t you mean it might benefit? Nothing is guaranteed is it?
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Cambridge Population Estimates – A Difference Of Opinion

08:18 Tuesday 15th October 2013
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: Is Cambridgeshire being short changed by the Government, because the official figures suggest our population is lower than it actually is? That’s the question we’ve been asking all morning on the Bigger Breakfast, and trying to come up with ways of counting people proper – better – whatever. But Cambridge MP Julian Huppert and Peterborough’s Stewart Jackson are concerned that the Office for National Statistics are not giving accurate figures for the number of people who actually live in the county. Johnnie D. can explain what that means, and what effect it might have. First of all Johnnie, who are these people at the ONS, and how do they compile these statistics?
JOHN DEVINE: Good morning Paul. Yes, it’s their job to collect all sorts of information about the population and present that to the public. And they use things like official registrations of births and deaths, as well as information about migration, to try and predict which areas will grow in the coming years, and which areas will see a decrease in the population.
PAUL STAINTON: So are they accurate? That’s the big question, isn’t it?
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Cambridge city centre access – Council seeks to trim disabled parking provision to make room for bike racks

09:09 Thursday 10th October 2013
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[A]NDIE HARPER: As I mentioned, we’re talking about disabled parking bays this morning. Are there enough in the County? Or maybe there are too many. Are we getting the balance right? In Cambridge the City Council is considering turning some blue badge bays into cycle parking. Councillors discussed it at a meeting this week, but deferred approving the plans so there could be more time for consideration. Well Labour City councillor Gerri Bird was at the meeting, and opposed the move. Gerri, good morning to you.
GERRI BIRD: Good morning Andie.
ANDIE HARPER: So what was up for discussion precisely Gerri?
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Stagecoach willing to manage Cambridge Park And Ride sites

08:08 Tuesday 8th October 2013
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: We’ll start at the Park and Ride, on the day that councillors in Cambridgeshire discuss proposals to bring in the £1 parking charge. We’re asking, what should we do with the Park and Ride sites? Should it be sold to a private company? The County Council says it costs them over £1 million a year to run the sites, and they need to save money because of spending cuts. BBC Radio Cambridgeshire has been told by workers at the Council that staff are worried about losing their jobs. Currently eight people work at the site. Two years ago there were fifteen. The waiting areas and help desks are often closed. Well earlier in the show, opposition LibDem councillor Susan van de Ven said the Council had rushed their decision making process.
(TAPE)
SUSAN VAN DE VEN: The charging policy is a knee-jerk reaction and the short term solution to something. The Council has continually told us that congestion builds up. That has a huge cost to business, and we need to keep people moving, and Park and Ride figures as the lynch-pin in a multi-modal transport way of getting around.
(LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: Cllr van de Ven went on to say that officials need to look at other ways of raising money.
(TAPE)
SUSAN VAN DE VEN: Rural South Cambridgeshire is going to be affected greatly by a parking charge, and many of these people don’t have basic services in their villages, such as post offices and shops. And we know that there’s a large elderly population that depend on getting around by bus. So why not introduce some of those village services to Park and Ride.
(LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: So should the Council sell the sites, privatise them, make some cash and leave it to a private company to run them? Well I’m joined in the studio by Cllr Mac McGuire, who’s the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Highways and Community Infrastructure. Morning.
MAC MCGUIRE: Morning Paul.
PAUL STAINTON: And Andy Campbell’s with us as well, the Managing Director of Stagecoach, who currently run the bus services from the five Park and Ride sites. So Andy, can you do a better job at running these sites, do you think?
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TPA Swipe At Council Chiefs

07:07 Friday 4th October 2013
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: Let’s start though with cuts to council budgets, which will impact on all of us, and in particular on front line services going forward. That’s the warning anyway from a union spokesman for Cambridgeshire. Officials from the GMB Union meet today to decide their response to further budget cuts local authorities are going to have to make over the next few years, as their central government grants are reduced yet again. Here’s Richard O’Leary, the GMB’s Regional Officer for Public Services in Cambridgeshire. Earlier he said there are no more efficiencies savings that can be made .
(TAPE)
RICHARD O’LEARY: Since 2010 the cuts in local government have been absolutely savage. By 2015 there’ll be over 500 jobs lost at the current figures in Cambridgeshire. And a billion pound budget will virtually have been cut in half. There literally is no more cuts to make, and the biggest effect in these cuts as well as on local residents are on the staff.
(LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: As I mentioned, Cambridgeshire County Council has to save £159 million over the next five years. They’ve already made 500 people redundant in the last three and a half years, and the Leader of the Council Martin Curtis has warned that hundreds more jobs might have to go. And he says it’s not really his or the authority’s fault.
(TAPE)
MARTIN CURTIS: We have done everything Government asked of us. We’re the fastest growing county in the country. As successive governments have said that they want councils to invest in growth, we’ve done that, and what we feel is we’re being punished. The level of cuts we’ve got to make in the next couple of years, we’re one of the worst affected county councils. And what we’re saying is actually Government need to revisit this. They actually need to revisit the whole scope of funding cuts to councils in general, and think about whether they can find those savings elsewhere.
(LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: So last week it was firefighters. earlier this week it was teachers. Could it be council staff who are the next group of public sector workers to go on strike? Well Richard O’Leary from the GMB didn’t rule it out.
(TAPE)
RICHARD O’LEARY: It’s difficult to say. We hope not. Strikes are always a last resort. I was talking to somebody yesterday and made the point that I think there’s only actually been four days of industrial action in public services in the last 25 years. That’s the purpose of our meeting in London today, to gauge the views of our local government reps, to see what can be done to work with local authorities. But also obviously our primary role is to protect members’ terms and conditions, and services to the public.
(LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: Joining me now is Eleanor McGrath from the Taxpayers Alliance. They think councils could still make savings. Eleanor, where?
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Martin Curtis Signals Job Losses In A Tough Budget For Cambridgeshire

17:40 Wednesday 25th September 2013
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[C]HRIS MANN: Cambridgeshire County Council is to face its toughest financial year yet, according to its Leader Martin Curtis. He’s been giving a briefing to journalists this afternoon, ahead of next year’s budget negotiations. Well our reporter Henrietta McMicking was there to meet him and hear what he had to say, and she joins me now. Hello there.
HENRIETTA MCMICKING: Hi Chris. So the purpose of today’s briefing was to explain that the Council believes that very tough decisions are going to have to be made in the coming year, if they’re going to make their proposed cuts. They have said that they want the current net operating budget of £490 million to be cut by £33 million in the current financial year. Now as well as the Council Leader Martin Curtis, I was also speaking to the Chief Executive Mark Lloyd, and he outlined to me the extent of the budget cuts that they’re facing, not just this year, but the wider picture going back the last three years, and going forward for the next five.
(TAPE)
MARK LLOYD: Over the last three years the County Council has worked incredibly hard to make savings totalling £124 million. That includes the year that we’re in right now. And looking across the next five years, we think we need to make another £159 million worth of savings. That’s an awfully big hill to climb.
(LIVE)
CHRIS MANN: Cambridgeshire County Council Chief Executive Mark Lloyd. Now they had some very big announcements to make about jobs and services as well Henrietta. Continue reading “Martin Curtis Signals Job Losses In A Tough Budget For Cambridgeshire”

Captured Markets

08:20 Thursday 12th September 2013
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: Senior managers at Cambridgeshire County Council could soon receive a pay rise, if proposals being discussed on Monday are approved. The news comes a few months after the Cabinet told staff they needed to reduce staffing costs by 3%. LibDem councillors are urging officials to reject the pay increase and say the proposal is devastating for staff morale. Well speaking to BBC Radio Cambridgeshire’s Drivetime show, their Spokesman for Resources Ian Manning urged council officials to show leadership when considering the proposal to increase some Council officers’ pay. (TAPE)
IAN MANNING: This is about what does the Council have control of. The Council has, it individually has, direct control of the wages of the management and senior management staff. And that is why I think they should be showing leadership, in the same way that we did when we voted against giving councillors a pay rise. They should be showing leadership and saying we know how tough it is. We’re not taking more money. (LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: Well that’s what the LibDems had to say. Let’s get reaction from the Leader of UKIP on Cambridgeshire County Council, councillor Peter Reeve. Morning Peter.
PETER REEVE: Good morning.
PAUL STAINTON: We’re not talking about a big pay rise here, are we?
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