May 2019

Buckden Roundabout

May 2019

From Your Councillors

FROM YOUR DISTRICT COUNCILLOR

Work on the A1 is going forward very quickly and I attended

the opening ceremony for the return to national speed limits

in Buckden area. No ribbons were cut but there was a tour of

the ongoing work and the new Ouse Bridge, both below and

on top of it. Until you see the scale of these structures at

close quarters, you just do not appreciate the amount of work

and the skill of all the workers involved. Congratulations to all

of the various teams involved for a really fantastic effort on

this project. The bridge has a design life of 130 years, so we

will all have time to get used to this!

A new and welcome development is that the A1 work will be

given Motorway status, and as a result a new strategic study

for the A1 Baldock/Alconbury link has been started. It is too

early to have any interim results, but it does mean that the

issue of the Roundabout is now on the agenda at Highways

England. The team at HE are convinced that once the Ouse

Bridge is complete there will be an improvement at Buckden,

as they believe a very large number of trucks will be diverted

away from us.

I have attended a number of local and national conferences on

traffic strategy and the impact of the local development going

on around us. While we all know about the local develop-

ments like St Neots Wintersham Park, and Alconbury Weald,

we may be less aware of Wing, Northstow, Trumpington

Meadows, Waterbeach New Town and the impact of the pro-

posed East/West Rail Link.

It is very important that the new rail links include St Neots, as

this would give a huge boost to the local economy and jobs. A

lot of lobbying is still needed, so if you get a chance to give

your opinion, please support this option. The sheer scale of all

this local development will bring more challenges, and I am

working hard to identify the important issues for Buckden and

to make sure we are as prepared as we can be. More news on

all of this anon!

Councillor HDC Buckden Ward

(

Hamish.Masson@Huntingdonshire.gov.uk

)

FROM YOUR COUNTY COUNCILLOR

I was pleased to attend the Annual Assembly on April 23

where I presented a full report on the last year in the County

Council. Below is a very abridged version. The full report is on

the Roundabout web-site at

http://tinyurl.com/y42lecgc

Details of the Council structure, committees and meetings

with reports can be seen on-line at

www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk

The key issue for the County Council: reduced funding and

increased demand

Central government has reduced its annual revenue grant to

local authorities; locally that is from £86 million in 2013-14 to

nil for the coming year 2019-20. Councils have little flexibility

to increase tax levels and Cambridgeshire turned down that

option in previous years but not this year (see below).

Over 60% of County Council expenditure goes on services to

older people and to young children. The demand for services

is increasing as the elderly population and the under-fives

increase and services are costing more.

Child protection is a major responsibility, including taking chil-

dren at serious risk into care. There are currently over 700 in

this situation. This an important and expensive activity – fail-

ure to identify and support families in need at an early stage

results in greater suffering later and increased costs for the

public purse.

Council Tax

For several years the government has capped the levels by

which local councils can increase tax. Until last year, Cam-

bridgeshire CC decided to implement the 2% social care in-

crease but decided on no increase in the basic council tax.

However, for the coming year 2019-20, the Council has voted

for the 2% increase for adult social care plus 2.99% which can

be used for other services. The cost to a Band D household of

every 1% increase is 23p per week. The 4.99% increase will

cost £1.15 per week. Over 60% of households in Cambridge-

shire are in the lower bands A-C.

The Council’s Chief Finance Officer has informed councillors

that the savings needed over the next five years amount to

£69 million (in a gross budget of £573 million).

Services for older people

More and more people are living longer and, in the main,

healthier lives. When they do become dependent, the cost to

the Council is very considerable. The Council’s aim is to ena-

ble more people to live longer at home and be supported

there, rather than going into sheltered accommodation.

The policy of ‘Transformation’ is based on a significant reduc-

tion in personnel together with higher expectations on the

voluntary sector and an assumption of a willingness on the

part of beneficiaries to accept new ways of being supported.

Buckden specifically

I attend monthly Parish Council meetings where I present a

written report on current issues and listen to the reaction of

the Parish Council. I liaise with the Parish Clerk and Chairman

between meetings as required. In many respects, Buckden is a

privileged village. It has a vibrant and varied social and cultur-

al life, good facilities for recreation and many committed and

hard-working people devoted to the good of others in the

village. It has a good range of local shops and amenities, and

pubs! Nevertheless …

Most of my local work on a day-to-day basis is in responding

to requests for information from residents, dealing as far as

possible with their complaints. The complaints have become

more numerous and more strident over the last two years. I

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