Agenda

On 4 March 2024 the Council has received the following nomination:

Fowlmere URC and School Room (including Burial Ground), Chapel Lane, Fowlmere, Royston, SG8 7RX

SCDC ref CRtB/2024/009

The Council will make its decision by Monday 29 April 2024.

On 13/02/2024 the Council has received the following nomination:

Rampton Free Church Mission Hall, High Street, Rampton, Cambridge, CB24 8QE

SCDC ref CRtB/2024/007

The Council will make its decision by 09/04/2024

Further information about the Community Right to Bid and Assets of Community Value can be found on our webpage.

Please contact partnerships@scambs.gov.uk  if you have any questions. 

National Highways are carrying out essential maintenance on the A11 between Babraham and Six Mile Bottom. Their work includes resurfacing and sign renewals to ensure that the A11 remains safe and serviceable.

Work began on Monday 6 March 2023 and is expected to be complete by Friday 22 March 2024.

Upcoming closures and diversions

The final phase of work will take place between Thursday 14 and Friday 22 March.We’ll be working overnight between 8pm and 6am, as follows:

·         A11 southbound closure between Fourwentways and Granta Park, on Thursday 14 and Friday 15 March.

·         A11 northbound closure between Granta Park and Fourwentways (including the exit slip road from the A505), from Monday 18 to Friday 22 March.

Whist the A11 is closed, traffic will be diverted as follows:

·         Southbound traffic will exit the A11 at Fourwentways Interchange onto the A1307 towards Haverhill, then turn right onto Newmarket Road towards Granta Park. Join the A505 westbound at Granta Park and then join the M11 southbound at junction 10 to continue south.

·         Northbound traffic on the M11 wishing to continue onto the A11 will exit at Stump Cross and take the A1301 northbound, then join the A505 eastbound at Pampisford. Exit the A505 towards Granta Park then follow Newmarket Road northbound to the A1307 Fourwentways Interchange to join the A11.

How to find out more

More information about our closures and diversion routes can be found on the National Highways website

If you would like more information, please contact National Highways on 0300 123 5000, or by email at info@nationalhighways.co.uk.  

As part of a series of improvements on the M11, National Highways plan to renew the existing electronic message signs between junctions 12 and 13. Once complete, the new signs will offer reliable information and service to the road users. The signs have been built with a longer lifespan and durability.

National Highways plan to complete this work over 3 nights between Monday 11 March and Wednesday 14 March 2024. They will work between 9pm and 5am, weather permitting.

Closures and diversions

To carry out the work safely, National Highways will need to close sections of the M11, and divert traffic as detailed below:

A new website has been launched by Support Cambridgeshire. The Volunteer Cambs website allows residents of Cambridgeshire to explore volunteering opportunities and can also be used by community organisations to seek volunteers. The post New Volunteer Cambs website calls on the local community to make their mark with volunteering appeared first on Support Cambridgeshire.

Thursday 7 March, Independent: Budget, Household Support Fund extension

A six-month extension to the Household Support Fund, which helps the most vulnerable people struggling with the cost of living, has been announced in the Budget.

Friday 8 March, Sky News: Budget did little to diffuse ticking timebomb for local councils

Political editor Beth Rigby writes about the fallout from this week’s Budget, and the impact on councils and local services.

Friday 8 March, Financial Times: Right to Buy receipts

The Chancellor has decided to end the policy of letting local authorities keep 100 per cent of the revenues from sales of council homes.

Saturday 9 March, Sky News: Heat pump policy

Plans to impose targets for electric heat pumps sales on gas boiler manufacturers is reportedly set to be confirmed next week.

Sunday 10 March, Sunday Express: McVey on productivity plans

Cabinet Office Minister Esther McVey said the public sector, including local government, needs to cut out “wasteful practices”.

Monday 11 March, Sky News: Labour will not bail out bankrupt councils

Speaking during an interview on Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Philips, the Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said Labour will not bail out bankrupt councils.

Tuesday 12 March, Express: Council tax rises

Despite a £600 million package of support granted to local government before the Spring Budget by the Government, the LGA has warned that is not enough to plug the funding gap that councils are facing over the next two years and making council tax rises “vital”.

Tuesday 12 March, New Statesman: Household Support Fund

Despite a 6 month extension to the Household Support Fund, now due to conclude in September, concerns remain that councils were facing a “cliff edge”, as put by Greater Manchester Poverty Action (GMPA).

Wednesday 13 March, Daily Mail: Empty homes to pay double council tax

Owners of empty homes will pay double council tax after 12 months, rather than after two years under new plans.

A list of decisions currently within the call-in period is available on the Council’s website.

The call in procedure is set out in full in Part 4 of the Council’s Constitution, ‘Scrutiny and Overview Committee Procedure Rules’. 

Cabinet:

a)     Agreed to continue with four-day week working arrangements for desk-based colleagues (pro rata for part time colleagues) until: (i) information was provided by the Government regarding potential future financial levers they might impose on Councils using this working practice, as announced in their Local Government Financial Settlement consultation in December 2023, and (ii) a subsequent consultation was carried out by the Council, analysed, and all trial data was presented to Full Council for a final decision.

b)     Agreed to continue with four-day week working arrangements for the Waste service operational colleagues (the crews) (pro rata for part time colleagues) until: (i) information was provided by the Government regarding potential future financial levers they might impose on Councils using this working practice, as announced in their Local Government Financial Settlement consultation in December 2023, and (ii) a subsequent consultation was carried out by the Council, analysed, and all trial data was presented to Full Council for a final decision, noting that with a seasonal service, ideally a full year’s data was required.

c)     Agreed to undertake a consultation on the four-day week, once the financial implications of the Government’s Local Government Financial Settlement consultation were confirmed and all implications of considering adoption of a four-day week permanently were understood.

d)     Agreed that, for all colleagues working a four-day week (desk-based and waste operations), the hours were harmonised at 32 hours per week (pro rata for part time colleagues) at 86.5% of contracted hours from 1 April 2024.

e)     Noted that the proposal to approve a continuation of a four-day week (pro rata for part time) working model for waste and desk-based colleagues post the end of March 2024, would also be brought to the Strategy and Resources Committee at Cambridge City Council on 25 March 2024, and that both Councils were required to support the decision for the services which were shared (Waste and Planning).

f)      Agreed that an update report to Employment & Staffing Committee, Cabinet and Full Council and Cambridge City council committees, no later than the end of July 2024, would provide data on the trial periods (desk-based and waste), up until the end of March 2024, and information about the ongoing effectiveness, including recruitment and retention, costs and savings of a four-day week working model.

Cabinet:

1.    Approved the recommendation that the Council bring the Dispersed Lifeline service to an end.

2.    Agreed that the proposed increase to the fees for 2024/25, as agreed in the Cabinet report from 5th December 2023, are not activated so that colleagues could focus on assisting customers to find an alternative supplier.

3.    Agreed a three-month notice period for bringing the service to an end, so that the Council’s customers had sufficient time to find another service and the Council could offer help and assistance where needed.

Cabinet:

a)     Agreed to continue with four-day week working arrangements for desk-based colleagues (pro rata for part time colleagues) until: (i) information was provided by the Government regarding potential future financial levers they might impose on Councils using this working practice, as announced in their Local Government Financial Settlement consultation in December 2023, and (ii) a subsequent consultation was carried out by the Council, analysed, and all trial data was presented to Full Council for a final decision.

b)     Agreed to continue with four-day week working arrangements for the Waste service operational colleagues (the crews) (pro rata for part time colleagues) until: (i) information was provided by the Government regarding potential future financial levers they might impose on Councils using this working practice, as announced in their Local Government Financial Settlement consultation in December 2023, and (ii) a subsequent consultation was carried out by the Council, analysed, and all trial data was presented to Full Council for a final decision, noting that with a seasonal service, ideally a full year’s data was required.

c)     Agreed to undertake a consultation on the four-day week, once the financial implications of the Government’s Local Government Financial Settlement consultation were confirmed and all implications of considering adoption of a four-day week permanently were understood.

d)     Agreed that, for all colleagues working a four-day week (desk-based and waste operations), the hours were harmonised at 32 hours per week (pro rata for part time colleagues) at 86.5% of contracted hours from 1 April 2024.

e)     Noted that the proposal to approve a continuation of a four-day week (pro rata for part time) working model for waste and desk-based colleagues post the end of March 2024, would also be brought to the Strategy and Resources Committee at Cambridge City Council on 25 March 2024, and that both Councils were required to support the decision for the services which were shared (Waste and Planning).

f)      Agreed that an update report to Employment & Staffing Committee, Cabinet and Full Council and Cambridge City council committees, no later than the end of July 2024, would provide data on the trial periods (desk-based and waste), up until the end of March 2024, and information about the ongoing effectiveness, including recruitment and retention, costs and savings of a four-day week working model.

Cabinet approved the proposed amendments to the guidance, to come into effect for the 2024-2025 grant cycle.

Cabinet agreed:

a)    To progress work, from 1 April 2024, to protect the ATM identified at the Co-op in School Lane, Cambourne.

b)    To delegate to the Head of Transformation, HR and Corporate Services, in consultation with the Lead Member for Communities, decisions to proceed with increasing protection to ATM following assessment of additional sites within the approved £100,000 budget, ensuring local district councillors and parish/town councils have been engaged.

Cabinet agreed a supplementary estimate of £100,000 to fund Age UK Cambridgeshire and Peterborough to provide continuity of service to the 11 South Cambridgeshire Mobile and Community Warden Schemes during 2024-25.

Cabinet agreed that:

a)    The Local Plan Timetable Update at Appendix 1 be added as an Addendum to the Greater Cambridge Development Scheme 2022 and published on the Greater Cambridge Planning website.

b)    the Lead Member for Planning at South Cambridgeshire District Council would write to DLUHC, together with the Executive Councillor for Planning, Building Control and Infrastructure at Cambridge City Council, providing an update on the plan making timetable for Greater Cambridge reflecting the contents of this report.

c)    the Greater Cambridge local planning authorities should explore further with Government the opportunity to be a ‘front-runner’ pilot for the new plan-making process.

d)    a further report with a proposed specific timetable for both plans be brought to Members when there was clarity on the external dependencies of water, transport the WWTP DCO and the new plan-making system.

Cabinet:

a)    Noted the main issues raised in the public consultation, agreed responses to the representations received and agreed proposed changes to the Statement of Community Involvement as set out in the Statement of Consultation (Appendix 1 to the report);

b)    Subject to (a), agreed to adopt the amended Greater Cambridge Statement of Community Involvement (Appendix 2 to the report); and

c)    Delegated to the Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development, in consultation with the Lead Member for Planning, the authority to make any necessary editing changes to the SCI prior to publication.

The Lead Cabinet Member for Housing agreed to agree our response to consultation on reforms to social housing allocations.

The deadline for call-in is 15 March.

Please click on the link to find details of decisions made by officers under delegated authority.