Politicians back two-council Cambridgeshire model

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Cambridgeshire County Council would cease to exist under government plans to end two-tier local government and replace it with unitary authorities

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A council has decided how it thinks local government should be reshaped in Cambridgeshire.

The government wants Cambridgeshire and Peterborough's model of district, county and city councils to be replaced with fewer all-purpose councils.

Cambridgeshire County Council has decided it should be replaced with two local authorities: a north council covering Peterborough, Huntingdonshire and Fenland, and a south council covering Cambridge, east and south Cambridgeshire.

Liberal Democrat council leader Lucy Nethsingha said this was "the best available option for our area" given "the government's timescales and criteria".

Headshot of Lucy Nethsingha, she is smiling, wearing a white jacket over a blue top, has shoulder-length blonde hair. There is a beech tree in the background.Image source, Emma Howgego/BBC
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Lucy Nethsingha said a council survey had found "good support for Option A from across many areas of Cambridgeshire and from key partners"

The north and south model is known as Option A and it was backed by a majority of councillors at the full council meeting on Tuesday, external.

It was one of three options on the table.

There was significant criticism of the government process during the debate.

Nethsingha said: "It is important to me that the NHS, Anglia Ruskin University and many town and parish councils responded to say that they believe Option A would be the right outcome for our area.

"We would have chosen to approach this differently, but the government's timescales and criteria did not provide the opportunity to address longstanding issues linked to place and identity – that can be seen through some of the engagement feedback we have received as well."

All-purpose unitary councils usually amalgamate all the services that both district and county councils provide.

This could include road maintenance, bin collections, education, planning, social housing, social care and benefits support.

Under the plans, the new councils would take effect from April 2028.

Currently Peterborough operates as a smaller unitary authority, with the rest of Cambridgeshire under a two-tier system of county and district councils.

Why this option?

  • It achieves the government's guiding population figure of 500,000 by 2040

  • The government wants to use existing city and district council areas as the building blocks for new unitary councils

  • It creates the opportunity to develop better, more integrated public services; for example the boundaries aligned with the NHS

  • It will support the mayoral combined authority and further devolution by providing equal voice and representation for both urban and rural communities

Source: Cambridgeshire County Council

The submission date for the final proposals is 28 November.

Alternative reorganisation proposals are likely to be submitted by other authorities in Cambridgeshire.

Huntingdonshire District Council has said it wants to set up its own unitary authority.

The leaders of Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council have said they would prefer a slightly smaller unitary covering their areas.

Peterborough MPs Sam Carling and Andrew Pakes - both of Labour - have backed a three-council solution, with one based around Greater Peterborough, another around Greater Cambridge and the third covering rural mid Cambridgeshire.

The government will make the final decision on how the authorities will be formed.

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