John Reynolds' County report – February 2012 (1)

Cambridgeshire County Councillor John Reynolds


Grab a bargain and help support your local library

Head down to Central Library in Cambridge on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 February for a chance to buy some bargain books.  A book sale of no longer needed old library stock will be taking place on the 3rd floor of the library in the conference room.

Local Councty Councillor John Reynolds, said "This is a great opportunity to grab some bargain books, the prices are always very reasonable and the funds from the sale go straight back into the pot for library services – meaning you can help support your local library."

The book sale times are the same as the library opening hours – Saturday 9.00 am to 6.00 pm and Sunday noon to 4.00 pm.  There will also be a sale from 27 February to 3 March in Yaxley Library. You can check out future book sale dates on www.cambridgeshire.net.

Budget does the right thing for Cambridgeshire communities

Developing Cambridgeshire's economy, helping people live independent and healthy lives and supporting and protecting the vulnerable are at the heart of the County Council's spending plans for 2012/13.

The proposals, which will form the Council's integrated plan, were announced on 25 January ahead of meetings of the Cabinet and Full Council.

The Cabinet has listened to the public and produced proposals to increase spending in adult social care, invest in improving roads, transport and broadband, provide more school places as well as boosting business and housing.

Following a public consultation it is also proposed to raise Council Tax by 2.95 per cent to protect vital front line services as supported by residents and avoid a multi-million funding gap in the future.

The proposals include £610 million of capital investment over the next five years to make sure Cambridgeshire is open for business and to support prosperity, jobs, education and economic growth.

Councillors will be asked to back the £849 million budget and make £43 million savings following Government cuts of almost 25 per cent to the Council's revenue grant over the last two years. The proposals also confirmed the planned reduction of up to 154 full time equivalent posts from the County Council as announced to employees in November.

The proposals include an increase on last year of £6.4 million for Adult Social Care to protect the most vulnerable in society – some £188.5 million will be spent on Adult Social Care.

Also the budget proposals include capital investment:

  • An investment of an extra £90 million over five years to improve the road network, increase safety and keep Cambridgeshire moving – this means a total of £33 million will be spent this year.
  • Children's services will spend £77 million, mainly on providing additional school places.


The budget is also designed to help boost business and the local economy with a £20 million investment in superfast broadband, £26 million for vital transport measures such as Chesterton Station and £29 million for a new link road to solve the Ely level crossing problem.

The extra money also will be spent on:

  • Securing library services and transforming them to provide a twenty first century service.
  • Providing an additional £100,000 for support to carers and a further increase in funding for the voluntary and community organisations such as the Care Network, to support volunteering.
  • Protecting school crossing patrols.
  • Promoting cycle training in schools – so it will be free at point of use.
  • Continuing the U Project which helps year 11 pupils progress into education, employment or training.
  • Previous plans to reduce subsidised bus services will be phased over three years. This will be accompanied by a £1.5 million investment in targeted local transport schemes to make sure where possible alternative options are available before subsidised services are reduced.


The Council is already a very lean organisation in comparison with other councils and achieved £50 million savings last year. This includes working smarter and working with partners more, such as shared services with Northamptonshire County Council.

To make the required savings, the Council will have to reduce its costs and work in different ways to deliver some services. Savings it makes in some areas will be reinvested in services to make sure tax payers are getting the most for their money. 

Residents said in a public consultation they would be prepared to pay more in Council Tax to preserve essential services.

Councillors have listened to the public and suggested a Council Tax rise of 2.95 per cent to make sure extra investment can be made into vital front line services such as adult social care.

This means rejecting the one off payment offered by Government to councils to freeze Council Tax for this year. Taking this one off payment would have led to the Council having to make even more savings this year but an even greater increase in council tax in following years.

The rise still means Cambridgeshire has one of the lowest Council Tax rates in the country. If the Council were to take the money on offer from Government, it would leave the authority with a multi-million hole in its budget that would grow larger, to around £30 million over the next five years.

Councillor Nick Clarke, leader of Cambridgeshire County Council, said: "At the heart of this budget is the desire to do what is right for Cambridgeshire and our communities while meeting the challenging savings targets. We have listened closely to what residents have said and our proposals reflect our drive to promote Cambridgeshire as a place which is open for business and can lead UK PLC to recovery while providing local jobs and prosperity.

"We are protecting the most vulnerable in our society by investing more in adult social care while working harder to drive down savings and work better with partners to improve the quality of life and health for residents. We are pushing forward investment in roads and much needed major transport infrastructure to meet the growing demands of the County and keep business and residents moving. At the same time we are saving libraries and finding ways to better provide community transport.

"But it is a major challenge to make savings while investing where residents want us to. That is why we have listened to residents who said they would be prepared to pay more to protect services. Putting up Council Tax is right for Cambridgeshire. The alternative is a massive multi-million funding hole to fill in the future which would no doubt hit our most vulnerable residents."

The proposed increase would mean a Council Tax Band D household paying £30.87 a year more for County Council services.

The Government has offered to give Councils a one off payment this year rather than put up Council Tax. This equates to a rise of 2.5 per cent. However, as a one off payment, this would not be available the following year and therefore to keep the services as they are and plan for inflation, councils would be forced to hike up Council Tax by a greater amount the following years.

Full details of the Council's intentions are on its website.

A14 update

A speedy recovery service and a ban on drivers changing lanes on the approaches to junctions are being planned to relieve delays on the A14.

The Highways Agency, which is responsible for the congestion-blighted trunk road, has been setting out how it might spend the £20 million which has been allocated for short-term improvements.

The Girton and Spittals interchanges, at either end of the route between Cambridge and Huntingdon, will be upgraded to improve traffic flow in both directions. The agency says relieving pressure eastbound between Bar Hill and Girton is a priority. One possible innovation is the creation of hatched areas between lanes approaching the cloverleaf junction, known as a 'tiger tail', which would stop drivers changing lane and separate traffic bound for Huntingdon Road from vehicles heading for the A14.

Another idea is confining eastbound traffic on the A428 to one lane at the Girton interchange to allow traffic merging from the A14 to join freely. An extra lane eastbound to the Histon interchange will also be investigated.

The agency is also planning a swift recovery service, dubbed 'minute man', to help remove broken down vehicles quickly and to install more messaging signs for drivers.

A spokeswoman said: “The Highways Agency is currently considering a number of options as part of the £20 million package to reduce congestion at key junctions, which in turn impact the whole section of the A14 from Cambridge to Huntingdon.

“The Government will improve the layout of two major junctions at the two ends of the Huntingdon to Cambridge section: the Girton and Spittals interchanges.

“We will also implement a number of measures that will reduce the impacts incidents have on the road, including provision of more helpful information via messaging signs to drivers when there is a problem.”

Cambridgeshire County Council is the other organisation which is getting a share of the £20 million.

As previously reported, it is considering doubling the size of the car park at St Ives park and ride because it is thought demand for the guided busway may outstrip the number of bays in the near future.

The public’s views on long-term improvements to the A14 are currently being sought ahead of the publication of a report in June.

Free cycle safety training for thousands of Cambridgeshire youngsters

A bid for government funding and reductions in spending elsewhere will mean that thousands of Cambridgeshire youngsters will get free cycle safety training thanks to the County Council.

The spending savings which have resulted in an extra £10,000 boost from the County Council budget and the grant from DfT will see 4,000 training places during 2012/13, 4,500 the next year and 5,000 the following year - a total of 13,500 youngsters who will receive the training in primary schools at no cost – currently the training costs £15 a head.

The Bikeability training grant bid of £540,000 will be used by the County Council to provide the road safety education sessions which will be delivered in partnership with School Games Organiser Host Schools (formally known as School Sports Partnerships).

Local County Councillor, John Reynolds, said: "We currently charge for cycle training, but following a wider review of the road safety budget where we have made some spending saving by cutting overheads and with the support from DfT, from the start of the next academic year we will be able to scrap the charge and provide this important road safety advice to youngsters at no cost." 

During the last 12 months for which figures are available, 355 pedal cycle casualties were reported on Cambridgeshire's roads. 

Cambridgeshire County Council pioneered on-road practical cycle training for 10/11 year olds, during the late 1970s, which eventually became the benchmark for all such schemes nationally. Since then the County has trained thousands of children every year.

The County Council will receive a Bikeability payment retrospectively from DfT for every young person who undergoes the training and the free training sessions will be introduced from the beginning of the next academic year.

Keep warm and well advice as winter weather returns

With a prolonged spell of very cold weather predicted, agencies across Cambridgeshire are working together to help people in the county stay safe, warm and well as the winter weather hits. Health services, road safety experts and care support services are sharing information, expertise and support to ensure that a comprehensive range of services is available to vulnerable residents, when they need it most.

Gritting and treating a wide network of highways, footpaths and cycleways, working with district and parish councils to grit community areas such as paths outside shops, community centres and doctors surgeries and schemes designed to cut drink driving and raise accident awareness among drivers will help to reduce hospital admissions and trips to GP surgeries or A & E as well as keep people safe.

The local NHS will be working with District Councils and with voluntary sector agencies such as Age UK to provide advice on how to keep warm and well over winter, as well as encouraging vulnerable people to take up flu vaccinations, and avoid slips and trips. 

Cambridgeshire Director of Public Health, Dr Liz Robin, said: "I would encourage everyone who is eligible for a free seasonal flu jab this winter to take up the opportunity to protect their health. This includes 

  • All pregnant women irrespective of their stage of pregnancy.
  • Adults and children who suffer from:
          Chronic respiratory disease such as asthma, emphysema, cystic fibrosis.
          Heart disease.
          Diabetes.
          Kidney or liver disease.
          Lowered immunity due to disease or treatment.
          Chronic neurological disease such as stroke / transient ischaemic attack (TIA).
          Multiple Sclerosis. 
  • All people aged 65 and over


Local County Councillor, John Reynolds, is calling on people to help public agencies care for the vulnerable in the community by becoming good neighbours.

His call is in support of a new countywide Help at Home service, provided by the Cambridgeshire Care Network Charity and funded by the County Council and NHS Cambridgeshire.

He said: "The new Help at Home scheme is an excellent way to ensure that those vulnerable people in our community get the help they often need, but are reluctant or unable to ask for.

"What I am asking people to do is not to become nosy neighbours, but concerned neighbours who gently keep an eye on people living nearby who may benefit from the new service and the other advice and support provided by agencies across Cambridgeshire including health and social care services.

"By working even more closely together, health, welfare and safety agencies across Cambridgeshire, can do even more than in previous years to support our communities and I am asking local people to help us to help those who need us by becoming a 'good neighbour.' 

For more information on the Help at Home service, contact (01223) 714433 or visit www.care-network.org.uk – for health and social care services go to www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/social.

Contact John Reynolds

       County Councillor John Reynolds
       4 Holly Trees
       Bar Hill
       Cambridge
       CB23 8SF 

       T  01954 200 571
       F  01954 200 571
       M  07720 379699
       E  john.reynolds@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

 Contact Cambridgeshire County Council


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