Draft business plan and budget proposals that would see continued investment in children’s social care, fostering and adoption as well as education services, were scrutinised and supported by a majority of Children and Young People committee members – who yesterday (Tuesday, 20 January) put forward their views for consideration by the Strategy, Resources and Performance committee on 29 January.
The Children and Young People committee has a significant role in enabling children, young people and families in Cambridgeshire to live full, healthy lives. This is why, the council this year plans to invest an additional:
- £10.4M for children who become looked after
- £3.8M to support home to school transport services
- £406K to increase direct payment packages for children and young people with disabilities.
Other proposals include:
- Continuing to reduce use of agency social workers. Already down from 38% in January 2024 to 12% in November 2025.
- Supporting families to access their full benefits entitlement and additional help they might need once the Household Support Fund closes
- Delivering a three-year Travel to Learn project to boost independence of learners, improve access to and uptake of safe active travel and public transport routes, and improve efficiency of transport services
At its meeting in December, members of the Strategy, Resources and Performance Committee began debating the draft business plan and budget. This plan has now been scrutinised by the Communities Social Mobility and Inclusion committee.
The feedback from all the council’s January policy and service committees, as well as feedback from our online public consultation and the views of Town and Parish Councils, other local and public authorities, business representatives and trade unions will be debated again by the Strategy, Resources and Performance committee when it meets at the end of January. This committee will then put forward the final draft business plan and budget for debate and decision at the Full Council meeting on 10 February.
Cambridgeshire County Council’s 2026-27 business plan and budget will identify where to spend £1.2billion to deliver services and support for residents and communities across the county.
Next year, there is a projected significant increase in costs due to a growing population and increasing demands – particularly in children’s and adults’ social care.
Nearly two thirds of our spending goes towards social care, while other major areas of spending include Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), home to school transport, and highways maintenance.
For 2026/27 we have remaining budget gap of £6.4million that we need to address. That means we must continue to make difficult choices about levels of council tax and where we can generate additional income, as well as where we invest and where we make savings.
Cllr Edna Murphy, Chair of the Children and Young People Committee at Cambridgeshire County Council, said: “We are making sure the council stays financially sustainable by taking a prudent, long-term approach to business and budget planning that is informed by our residents’ priorities, so we can keep investing in and prioritising core services.
“A majority of the budgeted spending discussed today is for services that the council has a statutory duty to provide. Nonetheless, I’m pleased that we continue to look beyond our statutory duty wherever possible, operating with a whole family approach so that interventions are considered holistically across the needs of the household.”
“Today we’ve recommended proposals that will reduce costs, target resources where significant impact is achievable and invest in prevention-focused, independence-enhancing measures, in order to achieve the best outcomes we can for children, young people and their families.
“We’ve also asked the Strategy, Resources & Performance Committee to consider whether additional funding could be made available to support the transition from the Household Support Fund, which is coming to an end, to the Government’s new Crisis and Resilience Fund.
“Government has recognised it needs to respond to the SEND crisis nationally but has yet to share what that will mean for councils, schools or parents and carers. The current lack of Government funding for these vital public services means that for 2026/27 the council will face a further £22 million in financial challenges than were identified in February 2025. That means further and even more difficult decisions about how to allocate resources and balance its budget will be required.
“We are committed to ensuring the council delivers value for money in the services it provides. That is why this committee supports the proposals today.”
The views of all policy and service committees, the views of residents, partners and business representatives, and the details from the Local Government Finance Settlement will be put before the Strategy, Resources & Performance Committee on 29 January so it can make a final recommendation on the business plan and budget to Full Council, which meets to debate and agree this plan on 10 February 2026.
More information on the council’s proposals for the coming year: Council considers next stage for the budget proposals and refreshed vision
You can read the papers from today’s committee meeting on our website, and rewatch the meeting on our YouTube channel.
