May 2018

Buckden Roundabout

May 2018

FROM YOUR DISTRICT COUNCILLOR

A Date For Your Diary.

On Tuesday 22

May the Principal Speaker at the Parish Assembly will be James Palmer, the

Mayor of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority. The Mayor has a large budget and increasing

power to influence the future of Cambridgeshire. I urge you to take this opportunity to hear what he plans and to

question him on how his plans will effect this area of Cambridgeshire. His plans include a new University for Peter-

borough, an increase in the number of affordable housing, a new transport system for Cambridge, (including tun-

nels), better bus services and improvements to the County’s road infrastructure. I believe that we will be the first

Parish or District Council that he has addressed and I hope that we shall have a large audience that will indicate how

strongly we in Buckden feel about the future of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire in particular.

May - Election Day.

I hope that all residents will take the opportunity to vote for a new District Councillor. Unfor-

tunately there will be no requirement for an election for the Parish Council because there have been insufficient ap-

plicants. The Council will consist of ten of its present members plus one new member. Buckden is a large and busy

village and faces increasing pressures over the coming years. It needs and deserves a full and strong Council to meet

the challenges and I hope that some of you reading this will offer your talents as ‘co-opted’ members of the new

Council.

Thank You.

Thank you for electing me as your District Councillor four years ago. This is my last contribution to The

Roundabout in this role. I hope that I fulfilled your expectations. It has been an honour and privilege to represent

the village and I have been grateful for the support that I have received from residents.

With all best wishes, Terry Hayward, District Councillor for Buckden, Stirtloe, Diddington, Southoe and Midloe

From Your Councillor s

FROM YOUR COUNTY COUNCILLOR

This a very abridged version of my annual report 2017-2018. The full report is on the Roundabout web-site

https://buckdenroundabout.info/community/county-councillor-annual-report-2018

. 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

This year has seen an intensification of the debate on how to provide the services residents have come to expect

but in a context of severe financial pressures. Central government has reduced its revenue grant to local authorities;

locally that is from £86 million in 2013-14 to nil by 2019-20. Councils have little flexibility to increase tax levels and

Cambridgeshire turned down that option in previous years.

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.

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 enable more people to live longer at home and be supported

there rather than going into sheltered accommodation.

Child protection is a major responsibility, including taking children at serious risk into care. There are currently over

700 in this situation. This an important and expensive activity – failure to identify and support families in need at an

early stage results in greater suffering later and increased costs for the public purse.

The Local Government Association Chairman, Lord Porter (Conservative) said recently:

‘The reality is that many

councils are now beyond the point where council tax increases can be expected to plug the growing funding gaps

they face. Council will have to cut back services or stop some altogether to plug funding gaps.’

The expectation appears to be that services will somehow be ‘transformed’ and local groups - parish councils, vol-

untary groups – will come to the rescue of those people in the greatest need.

Peter Downes, County Councillor for the Brampton and Buckden division