The biggest shakeup of local government in a generation could mean the District/City boundary between Histon & Impington and Cambridge being removed, and South Cambridgeshire District Council, Cambridge City Council and Cambridgeshire County Council all being dissolved.
Devolution
A Government white paper published before Christmas revealed ambitious plans that would see a “transfer of power out of Westminster” to elected Mayors and other strategic authorities.
As Cambridgeshire and Peterborough already have a democratically elected Mayor leading the Combined Authority, they will potentially be handed more responsibilities.
The Government says the transition in Cambridgeshire should be complete by April 2028, and Jim McMahon, the Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution who is leading the re-structure, has now written to seven Cambridgeshire councils formally inviting them to work together and explore devolution options.
They have until the middle of next month to come up with a framework for delivering all public services from fewer unitary authorities, rather than the current two-tier system of district and county councils.
Ministers say this will deliver “simpler, more sustainable, local government structures” that will “increase value for money for council taxpayers”.
For residents, once the devolution transition is complete it could end confusion about which Council is responsible for which services.
Currently problems with bin collections, for example, must be reported to South Cambs District Council, while other services, such as roads, are among the County Council’s responsibilities.
500,000 is the magic number
The Government is recommending that each unitary authority should cover a population of around 500,000 “to achieve efficiencies, improve capacity and withstand financial shocks”. But it has accepted there may be exceptions.
A natural partnership would be between South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridge City Council, who already share services such as waste and planning. As one councillor explained, the shape of the geographic area covered would go “from being a ring donut to a jam-filled one”.
However, the population of the City and District Councils combined would only cover a population of 300,000 – nowhere close to the 500,000 recommendation.
Other options, such as bringing neighbouring East Cambridgeshire District Council or Huntingdonshire District Council into the fold, are likely to be considered. But there is a chance these councils would feel better aligned with their other neighbours.
Is now the right time?
Speaking before councils received their invitation to start their devolution discussions, County Councillor Ros Hathorn questioned whether now the right time is to announce and “force through” the biggest changes in local government in 50 years. When she spoke to HI HUB, the County Council was in the throes of budget setting and had confirmed local elections will still be held in May.
She said: “If I had a five year term like the Labour government do, the last thing I would do is essentially land a bomb in the whole of local government right now. This is what is happening here with devolution…
“I appreciate there is a strong argument for forming unitary councils. But the way it is being done, the way it is being forced through, and the notion it is going to save lots of money I think will be demonstrated as being utterly naive.
“There is no time to go out to public consultation and absolutely no time to do this democratically. If you want to do something like this properly, you do it by consultation and you do it with evidence. You don’t just allow council leaders and chief executives to handle something as important as this.”
Councillor workload
Another of Ros’s concern is that councillors could have a larger area to cover and would be representing more residents. She said: “There’s going to be fewer councillors and these individuals will be less connected to their areas as they’re going to have bigger patches to cover and greater responsibilities.
“What people should be worried about is that in the unitary authority there’s going to be so much work that councillors are not going to be able to do other jobs. They’ll basically have to become full time councillors and there is a risk you will lose diversity among the people elected.”
Martin Cahn, a South Cambridgeshire District Councillor representing H&I, commented he feels there are “so many unknowns” when it comes to the Government’s vision for devolution. Speaking at the same time as Ros, he said: “The Government is telling us this process is going to be voluntary, but there’s a feeling this is actually more ‘compulsory voluntary’.”
He also pointed out that Cambridge City Council does not have any Parish Councils, and questioned whether some form of local authority will need to be created at this level of local government too: “If we have one unitary authority, should there be a Parish Council covering the city?
“Will they want to reorganise the parishes around the edge where there are new developments? For example, Darwin Green, Trumpington, Eddington etc. – should there be some kind of co-ordination across these areas?”
He added: “I see the logic in devolution, but how it will work is another matter…”
Potential obstacles
Cllr Bridget Smith, the leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council, outlined a potential predicament related to years of work on the Local Plan – the long-term strategy for future developments that all councils have to deliver and spend years working towards.
She told a select committee last month: “I have been working on a Local Plan jointly with Cambridge City Council for six years now and it has cost millions to get this far. If I unitarise [with the Cambridge City Council], our local [population] numbers would be somewhere over 300,000.
“If I am forced to include another council to get me up to 500,000, I will have to throw that local plan in the bin and start all over again. That will have serious impacts on this Government’s aspirations for growth in one of the key areas for bio-med and knowledge intensive industries because there won’t be a Local Plan, and I will have to start all over again on a call for sites…
“… So there are unforeseen or unintended consequences to some of this, which I really hope the Government is going to listen to.” While she accepted the Government wants to move forward with plans to reorganise local government, Cllr Smith said she wanted to fight for the cause of “smaller unitaries”. These, she feels, would “maintain connection to local places” which is important when considering new planning developments.
Tight timeline
The Government is already moving ahead with its devolution timeline. Neighbouring Norfolk County Council and Suffolk County Council are among the local authorities to have already agreed to join the Devolution Priority Programme.
The Cambridgeshire councils have been given until March 21 to submit their interim plan or plans to the Government for review. Following feedback, full proposals are to be submitted by November 28 of this year.
While other local authorities have decided to postpone elections this May, Cambridgeshire County Council has confirmed theirs will still go ahead on May 1, 2025. Voters will also take to the polls on the same day for the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral election.
Elections for the shadow authorities that are created are proposed to take place in Spring 2027, with the vesting day for new unitary councils a year later.
Additional reporting by Hannah Brown at the Local Democracy Reporting Service
