Cambridge Independent, 3rd March 2025
What do Residents in East Cambs think about Local Government Reorganisation?
East Cambs District Council agreed a 12th year of Council Tax freeze at its budget meeting in February; the Liberal Democrat opposition members voted against it.
This means the Council’s share of Council Tax bills remains at £142.14 for a Band D property, the same as it was in 2013. There are no cuts to services or efficiency targets and the Council has a balanced budget position for the next 2 years with zero external borrowing, so no using tax-payers’ money to fund debt interest payments.
In addition, the budget saw the retention of free car parking, free green waste collection, and free additional blue and green wheelie bins coming in 2026 alongside the new weekly food waste collection service and the rollout of black wheelie bins, all with the aim of increasing our recycling rate even further – East Cambs residents are the best recyclers in Cambridgeshire!
With the news that all Councils in Cambridgeshire are to be abolished in favour of new “super-authorities” with 500,000+ residents, we have been asking residents what they think about local government reorganisation and what is important to them from their Council.
We had over 700 responses in just 11 days to our survey, which just goes to show that the perceived wisdom that “people don’t care who delivers their services” actually isn’t true.
We have had a heart-warming response and some really lovely supportive comments about the Council. 81% of respondents so far do not support the idea of Councils merging, with just 6% being in support and 13% not sure. There is also a strong sense of residents wanting to be more engaged on this issue (94%) and people feeling very strongly that it is important to have ready access to a local Councillor (93%).
The Council will be holding an Extraordinary Council meeting to discuss local government reorganisation on 20th March ahead of the deadline of 21st March when Councils have to respond to Government with proposals.
The Council also agreed to restructure its Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) list at its February meeting. CIL is essentially a “roof tax” on new development.
Adopting CIL has been fantastic for our area, generating £35m to date to help us support delivery of infrastructure that supports the growth of our district. Examples include new schools, car parks, recreation grounds, new roads (A14, Ely Southern Bypass), village hall / community buildings expansion, St Mary’s GP Surgery upgrade, Ely museum expansion, a new theatre in Soham. £6m of CIL has been transferred to date to Town and Parish Councils for local projects and the balance is to enable the District Council to deliver more strategic projects.
The Council allocates funding to different “pots” for different purposes, some are specific projects, for example Ely Country Park expansion and the new Bereavement Centre, some are more general, such as District Wide Water and Flood Management and District Wide Health.
The Council made some minor changes to reprofile the allocation of spending to better reflect timing, need and prioritisation of CIL funds. This included the creation of a new pot for Inclusive Play and Open Spaces.
Before I go, I just wanted to give a hat tip to Alex Spencer, the Indy reporter that has moved onto pastures new. In a time of “fake news” Alex was the epitome of a superb journalist from times gone by (in all the best senses) – curious, tenacious, fair, detailed, determined and above all honest…an increasingly rare trait. Thank you Alex, I know you will be missed.
Anna Bailey
East Cambs District Council, Member for the Downham Ward
Leader of the Council
Deputy Mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough
Chairman of East Cambs Community Land Trust
Deputy Chair Political of Ely & East Cambridgeshire Conservative Association
