Views are being sought
on the Combined Authority's spending plans over the next four
years.
A public engagement will help shape the 2025-2026 budget and
Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP) running to 2029, setting out
how the Combined Authority's £309m capital programme and £320m
revenue budgets will deliver its strategy and priority projects,
including in transport, skills, business support and growth.
On Wednesday (13 November) the Combined Authority Board agreed to
approve the draft budget and MTFP to go out to public engagement.
This provides a great opportunity for residents, businesses, and
others to help inform the Combined Authority Board's decision in
January 2025 to agree a final budget and MTFP.
The engagement launches on Monday 18 November, and runs until
Monday 23 December. People can participate online, where they
can find out more, or via email.
Online: Budget, Mayoral Precept and
Medium-Term Financial Plan Engagement - Cambridgeshire &
Peterborough Combined Authority
Email consultations@cambridgeshirepeterborough-ca.gov.uk
The Board was also briefed on the Combined Authority's Corporate
Strategy refresh, which has strategic priorities which guide the
draft budget and MTFP. Just some of the Combined Authority
programmes budgeted under each Corporate Strategy priority
include:
Improving Connectivity
- Funding for reform to our entire bus system, including the
potential of bus franchising. A decision on whether to introduce
franchising is planned to be made by Mayor Dr in early 2025.
- Extension of the Tiger bus pass, giving £1 fares for under 25s,
to beyond the original end date of May 2025, into 2025/26 and
subject to agreement with bus operators.
- Peterborough Station Quarter - £42 million to deliver
improvements in and around Peterborough's rail station.
- £5.3m of local funding to top up £3.5m already secured from
Active Travel England for 2024/25 and 2025/26, resulting in a
significant investment ringfenced for active travel projects in
the area. This is alongside £4m already allocated to the
non-motorised footbridge on the A10 near the BP roundabout.
Achieving Good Growth
- Developing a ten-year Local Growth Plan and working with
Government to unlock the potential of our key industrial sectors
like life sciences and advanced manufacturing to power the
economy.
- Supporting local businesses to grow via a dedicated Growth Hub;
creating global business opportunities through our Inward
Investment Team; helping link learners and people retraining to
local employers in need of new skills through a skills brokerage
service, and a £9.5 million Business and Social Investment Fund
helping our third sector and social enterprises to grow.
- More than £20m
over the MTFP period to 2029 to support business growth through
the development of a Strategic Innovation and Investment Growth
Fund.
Ambitious Skills and Employment Opportunities
- Funding for programmes to inspire more young people into
careers that can transform their life chances, raising social
mobility across the Combined Authority, and especially in
Peterborough and Fenland.
- Tackling the inequalities in accessing further (FE) and higher
education (HE) that hold back life chances and progress. Building
FE and HE capacity to provide more adults, of all ages, with an
education which improves their access to better jobs and
prosperity.
- Continuing to deliver the Adult Skills Funding agenda
(previously called Adult Education Budget), worth an estimated
£52 million
over the next 4 years.
Enabling Resilient Communities
- Funding for a Climate Action Plan and Local Nature Recovery
Strategy, aiming to support efforts to mitigate climate change
and help nature to thrive.
- £14.4m capital over the next three years to deliver
interventions to mitigate climate change from low carbon heating
in schools, to supporting the electrification of waste vehicles,
to a bidding fund for small capital projects.
Mayor's Precept
- At the Board the Mayor also indicated that he would consult on
a possible 4.99% increase in the Mayoral precept as part of the
Council Tax bill. This proposed rise for 2025/26 would be
equivalent to an extra £1.80 per year (or just over 3p per week)
in addition to the existing £36 per year based on a Council Tax
Band ‘D' equivalent charge. The current precept is being used to fund 30
new or improved bus services across Cambridgeshire and
Peterborough as well as to safeguard existing routes. The
rise is proposed to offset rising costs and continue to protect
services.
The Combined Authority is working hard to achieve significant
improvements for the region and its residents. It is working
collaboratively with its constituent council partners, the
Government, and local businesses to leverage support and other
funding sources and ensure that the maximum impact and value for
money can be delivered.
Mayor Dr said: “These draft spending proposals
reflect the shared ambition we all have in Cambridgeshire and
Peterborough to build a better future for everyone. Public input
at this stage will help ensure our priorities in transport,
skills, the environment and economic growth reflect the needs of
our communities.”
The draft also seeks to support the recently approved Shared
Ambition, working with partners across Cambridgeshire and
Peterborough for an equitable, pioneering, connected, and
resilient region.
