Cllr Luis Navarro, County Councillor for Over, Northstowe, Longstanton, Oakington & Westwick
Over Monthly Report – February 2026
Dear residents,
I hope that you’re well and looking forward to the start of Spring after what feels like a long winter. Here is my latest report on County Council Matters.
Full Council
A majority of county councillors approved the Council’s 2026–29 Business Plan and Budget, which also includes the Council’s new Vision and Strategic Framework.
The decision to approve the Business Plan and Budget represents an important milestone for the Council, as we continue to navigate the challenging operational and financial environment that our services are working within, in support of residents and communities across Cambridgeshire.
Our new Strategic Framework
As part of the approved Business Plan, Full Council voted by a majority to adopt the council’s new Vision and Strategic Framework, which will go live on 1 April 2026. This forms the backbone of our future business planning and ensures our work for the future will reflect what matters most to residents.
Therefore, from April of this year, the Council’s new Vision statement will change to become: “A healthy, fair and sustainable Cambridgeshire.”
To deliver this vision, the Council will, from April, be focussed on three ambitions:
- Support a green and sustainable county
- Enable full, healthy lives for all
- Ensure fairness and opportunity wherever we can
County Council Budget
By approving the 2026–29 Business Plan and Budget, Council has approved a legal and balanced gross budget of nearly £1.3 billion for the coming year.
This plan and budget enable us to continue delivering key services that residents rely on every day; while also investing in improvements our communities have told us matters most to them. Key investments set out under the Council’s 3 new ambitions, approved today, include:
Supporting a green and sustainable county
- £20m in additional highways maintenance, on top of Government funding, to provide safer, more reliable journeys for drivers, cyclists, pedestrians and bus users alike.
- Continued delivery of the Council’s Climate Change and Environment Strategy, maintaining our leadership in sustainability and environmental action.
- £11m investment to upgrade the Milton and March Household Waste Recycling Centres.
Enabling full and healthy lives for all
- £14.7m additional funding to support adult social care providers across Cambridgeshire, helping to manage rising costs and ensuring care workers are paid the Real Living Wage.
- £780,000 per year to run a new children’s residential home in South Cambridgeshire.
- Ongoing investment through the Families First programme, an early‑intervention project that helps keep more families together and is supported by the £6.7 million Children’s, Families and Youth Grant.
Ensuring fairness and opportunity
- £1m to enable transitional funding for the current holiday meal vouchers through to summer 2026 for the children and families who continue to need this support.
- A new £5m Crisis and Resilience Fund, providing practical support to people, offsetting the Government’s withdrawal of funding for the Household Support Fund. Our approach to using this fund will focus upon the recommendations from the Cambridgeshire Poverty Commission and will seek to apply a wider range of Anti-Poverty measures.
- More than £1.2m invested in libraries and archives over the next two years, recognising the continued importance of libraries being at the heart of communities and helping to bring our services in the broadest sense, closer to people.
The approved Business Plan and Budget also include major investment in education, including 3,500 new primary school places and £72m invested over five years for additional secondary school capacity, and continued support for vulnerable children and families.
As part of the budget, a majority of councillors approved a 4.99% increase in council tax for the coming financial year, which includes a 2.0% increase permissible for Adult Social Care. For a Band D household, this increase equals £84.78 per year or £1.63 per week.
This level of increase is similar to the position being taken by many upper tier councils (county and unitary councils) across England. In Cambridgeshire, this increase in the Council Tax precept will generate around £21m of funding to support and sustain council services.
Potholes
The Council has significantly increased the number of highways crews dealing with both temporary and permanent pothole repairs across Cambridgeshire.
Ordinarily, there are eight repair crews and two “dragon patchers” operating countywide. This has now increased to thirty crews, alongside the two dragon patchers, which will substantially increase the number of repairs completed each week.
Winter conditions typically lead to a higher number of road defects, as wet and freezing weather causes worn areas of carriageways and pavements to deteriorate more rapidly. You can report road defects online just here: Report a highways fault | Cambridgeshire County Council
All these initiatives are interconnected and aim to promote and embed a culture of Active Travel and Public Transport in our community.
Council Updates
Full Council
At the meeting on 16 December, I presented the annual report from the Health & Wellbeing Board and Integrated Care Partnership. Key decisions included:
- Developing a culture and arts strategy for Cambridgeshire
- Supporting UK re-entry into the European Single Market and assessing Brexit impacts
- Introducing a policy for busway design to allow modifications during delivery if safety requirements change
Strategy, Resources & Performance
The committee reviewed the draft business plan and budget for 2026/27. Key points:
- Demand for services continues to rise, especially in social care and SEND
- Major cost increases since 2019 include:
- Home-to-school transport: +122%
- Learning disability care: +76%
- Older people’s care: +50%
- SEND support: +42%
- Children in care: +99%
- Current year forecast: £10M overspend and £100M SEND deficit
- £40M savings needed for 2026/27; £6.4M gap remains
Adults & Health
The Public Health Strategic Plan 2025–30 focuses on:
- Healthy Schools programme
- Road safety and active travel improvements
- Suicide prevention and bereavement support
- Employment access and workplace health programmes
- Alcohol harm prevention strategy
Smoking cessation: Cambridgeshire met the national target in 2024/25, with 5.02% of smokers setting a quit date, up from 4.18% in 2023/24.
Environment & Green Investment
- Park & Ride Solar Panels: Babraham Road Park & Ride now powers EV chargers and Addenbrooke’s Hospital via a private wire system.
- Digital Inclusion Directory: A new guide helps residents access devices, skills, and online services. Available at Connecting Cambridgeshire.
Combined Authority Update – Tiger Pass
The Tiger Pass, enabling young people to travel by bus for £1 per journey, is funded until March 2027. Its future beyond that date is uncertain, especially with the planned removal of the national fare cap in April 2027.
