Councillors at Cambridgeshire County Council backed a series of motions at Full Council today (Tuesday, 15 July), which called for action to address some key challenges.
Cllr Lucy Nethsingha, the Leader of Cambridgeshire County Council, put forward a motion which highlighted the crisis facing primary care services across Cambridgeshire. As a fast-growing county, the pressures which are visible in GP surgeries across the country are particularly acute in Cambridgeshire, as our population increases.
The motion calls for the council’s Chief Executive, Dr Stephen Moir, to write to Cambridgeshire MPs, the Secretaries of State for Health and Social Care, and Housing Communities and Local Government. The letter will ask for better planning and delivery of GP infrastructure, alert them to the shortcomings in planning and resourcing of GPs in Cambridgeshire and ask for a joined-up approach across government departments to make sure that high growth areas are not put at a disadvantage.
Councillors agreed that delivery of GP practices was not keeping pace with Cambridgeshire’s population growth, and that capital funding has not delivered the necessary new General Practice infrastructure.
Cllr Ros Hathorn, Chair of the Environment and Green Investment Committee at the council, brought a motion which called on the Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State for the Environment, highlighting the national significance of the Fens and the urgent need for long-term flood prevention and climate change funding over the next 100 years.
It also calls for a letter from the council’s leader to all political group leaders in Lincolnshire and Norfolk, inviting them to work with the council to tackle the issue.
The Fens are one of the most economically and environmentally important low-lying areas in the UK, and councillors expressed strong support for greater recognition and investment in their long-term protection.
Hundreds of thousands of Cambridgeshire residents live in the Fens. It was noted that managing water in the Fens across Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Lincolnshire is estimated to deliver more than £58bn worth of benefits to people, properties, businesses, critical infrastructure, agricultural land, as well as bringing indirect benefits to the local economy.
Another motion was put forward by Cllr Edna Murphy which called for a solution to tackle the issue of fly-tipping on Cambridgeshire’s major roads. Councillors heard that under current arrangements, city and district councils are responsible for clearing waste from trunk roads such as the A14 and A11 within Cambridgeshire, however, they must first apply to National Highways to close the roads, which can cause significant delays.
The motion, which was unanimously endorsed, will result in a letter from the Chief Executive to the Minister of State for Transport, copying in members of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Waste Partnership (RECAP), explaining the need for a more efficient system to deal with roadside fly-tipping.
Councillor Elliot Tong brought a motion raising concerns that central government cuts to welfare spending can have negative impacts on local authority finances. Councillors supported the motion and asked the Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Chancellor of the Exchequer asking for any plans to cut access to Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payments to be abandoned.
The letter will further ask for central government to carefully consider whether any future spending cuts will result in genuine savings or instead transfer costs from central government budgets to those of the NHS and local authorities. The Chief Executive has also been asked to contact local MPs to send their own letters of support to this motion.
Councillors also supported a motion from Cllr Alison Whelan reaffirming the council’s commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion. The motion included support for women and girls, trans men and women, and non-binary individuals, particularly in protecting against gender-based violence and systemic discrimination.
All five motions were supported by a majority of councillors, underlining the council’s collective focus on health, climate, waste management, and inclusion for communities across Cambridgeshire.
The Full Council meeting was live streamed on our YouTube channel, where you can now watch it back, and the papers discussed are available to read on our website.
