Dear residents, I hope that you had a pleasant summer and managed to take a well-earned break.  August brought us some warm and dry weather at last.

This is my first update of the autumn and, as is the tradition, it comes with a reminder to be prepared for the darker evenings and cooler weather when you’re out and about, especially if you’re driving and haven’t used your lights much in the past few months.

ADULTS & HEALTH

Covid Vaccine Programme

The government has accepted advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation for an autumn COVID-19 vaccination programme this year. All those aged 65 or over, all those in care homes for older people, and those aged six months or over who are in a clinical risk group, will be eligible for vaccination this autumn.

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CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

‘My Smile’ accreditation for Children & Family Centres

All of the County Council’s Child & Family Centres and Family Hubs are now ‘My Smile’ accredited. The ‘My Smile’ programme is aimed at reducing oral health inequalities for the most deprived and disadvantaged children in early years. The programme offers training to Child & Family Centre and Family Hub staff by the Oral Health team from Dental Health Care, part of Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust. 

There are four steps to the programme, consisting of 

• Training in good oral health
• How to share information to families around toothbrushing
• Tooth friendly diets
• Dental visits. 

Acquiring a ‘My Smile’ accreditation shows that the staff at these centres have received the most the up-to-date, evidence-based oral health training. It also shows that their centres promote a ‘tooth friendly’ environment for children and can confidently promote and advise visiting families on how to support good oral health at home

************************************************************************************* COMMUNITIES, SOCIAL MOBILITY & INCLUSION (COSMIC)

Household Support Fund

The new Government announced this week that the Household Support Fund will be continuing, this will be its fifth extension, as reported by the Guardian: Rachel Reeves to extend support fund to help poorest households | Welfare | The Guardian

In April 2024, Cambridgeshire County Council was awarded over £3,580,000 to support households in need and help with the rising cost of living. The scheme has experienced significant demand, with large numbers of applications being submitted every day both directly and through partners. The council’s Household Advice and Support Team continue to process applications, with the current processing time being approximately three weeks.

Advice is available to those struggling with the cost of living. Help with utility bills, housing support, emergencies and benefits: www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/council/communities/support-with-the-cost-of-living 

The Government offers help and advice with living costs, childcare and maternity costs, managing money and debt and guidance for those over 60 or those who have a disability or health condition.  www.gov.uk/cost-of-living

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HIGHWAYS & TRANSPORT 

Maintenance work on old A14 

Important maintenance work began on the A1307, known locally as the old A14, between Swavesey and

Huntingdon. Since the County Council took over responsibility for the road from National Highways in February, there has been a temporary 40MPH speed limit in place between Fenstanton and St Ives due to safety concerns. 

The road has been inspected and drainage works are needed here. From 29 July one lane was closed in each direction. Once this is complete, if the work has been successful, the 40MPH speed limit on this section will be removed. 

Meanwhile the Godmanchester to Huntingdon section is currently restricted to a temporary 40MPH speed limit due to safety concerns with the barriers. The council expects to start work on the barriers in September. This will also involve lane closures in both directions and the work is expected to take three months to complete.  In the meantime, the 40MPH speed limit will remain in place for safety reasons.

Road resurfacing works has also been taking place overnight along the A1307 since 27 August in a variety of locations.

All this work is being co-ordinated, and will be done together wherever possible to minimise disruption.

Vision Zero and iRAP (International Road Assessment Programme) 

An update on the Vision Zero Partnership will be presented to the County Council’s Highways & Transport Committee in December. At the same meeting, a report setting out the analysis of the Council’s A roads using the iRAP methodology will be considered. 

Vision Zero is a road safety partnership including local councils, police, fire, NHS and other relevant organisations. It is committed to preventing all road deaths across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, and to significantly reducing the severity of injuries, costs and social impacts resulting from road traffic collisions. 

iRAP is is a registered charity working with governments, highways authorities, and others to provide the tools and training to make roads safer. 

Government review of transport priorities 

The new government is undertaking an internal review of the Department for Transport’s capital spend portfolio and will be making recommendations about current and future schemes. 

This could have implications for schemes in or around Cambridgeshire, including the A10 from Ely to Cambridge, East West Rail, and the Ely Area Capacity Enhancements around Ely railway junction. 

Highways projects overview 

The council wants to use its website more to enable residents to see more up to date information on highways projects. This is very much a work in progress, but some of the larger projects can be seen at https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/travel-roads-and-parking/highway-projects/our-projects-andprogrammes

Winter gritting 

Preparations are under way for the 2024 winter, which starts on Friday 1 November, with salt barns being replenished and servicing of gritting vehicles.

Traffic Management Centre (TMC) 

The TMC responded to 88 incidents on the road network throughout Cambridgeshire in July covering 23 weekdays. This is a decrease to June’s figure and that of what we were seeing in July 2023. 

Please see the table below which illustrates the number of incidents over the last 6 months, compared to the same period last year;

Incidents by month/year 

	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June	July
2022/23	138	132	79	73	109	68
2023/24	126	80	110	103	108	88

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Busway Petition Update

Thanks to the 500+ residents who signed our petition, we’ve been advocating for crucial improvements to local bus services. The petition, launched in June, urged Stagecoach to reintroduce buses starting at Longstanton Park & Ride during peak times to address the overcrowding and delays that left many commuters frustrated and late for work or school.

In July, we presented these concerns to the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) during a meeting with the Mayor. This coincided with Stagecoach’s proposal review for the southern end of the busway, serving Addenbrooke’s Hospital.

However, despite Stagecoach’s recent changes aimed at increasing bus frequency to every 10 minutes for Route A during peak times, issues persist. Bus A & B continue to reach Longstanton Park & Ride already full, forcing many residents to wait for later services.

While the introduction of Tiger Bus Passes, with over 20,000+ young people applying, is a welcome step in promoting affordable travel for families, it has added to the challenge. The surge in applications has caused delays during boarding, as the scanning and verifying process clearly hadn’t been factored in. This has only exacerbated the overcrowding and operational issues, deepening commuter frustration.

It’s clear neither the CPCA nor Stagecoach fully accounted for the impact this surge would have on bus efficiency, adding a new layer of difficulty.

Local MP Ian Sollom has written to the Mayor on 20 September and a copy of the letter can be viewed here:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/NTwrd2ig6JrQ8yLf/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Anti-Social Behaviour across the ward – update

Following our meeting with CCC and SCDC officers and South Cambs Police on 5 June, a follow up meeting was held on 28 August with Homes England (I was not present), where Homes England confirmed that CCTV will be put up on the South Access Road West (SARW) and they will look to see how they can share the footage with Police. Discussions have been continued about any other preventative measures that can be put in place, such as a permanent barrier on the roundabouts, rumble strips on the approach to roundabout.

Having attended the South Cambs Police Quarterly Community Engagement meeting, their main message was that residents should continue to:

• Report all incidents on 101, either by calling 101 or using live chat or filling out a form on this link, https://www.cambridgeshire-pcc.gov.uk/contact-us-and-get-involved/report-a-crime/
• Fill out the community policing survey, with your concerns about the neighbourhood and community

(not to log an incident), filling in the survey will help to set the priorities for the next 3 months for South Cambs Police: https://tinyurl.com/2znyxn2m

• Email address for those who wish to raise any issues direct with the South Cambs teams – scambscops@cambs.police.uk

46 residents replied to the last survey, of which all the issues were critical with top 3 concerns being: knife carrying, drug dealing and Anti-Social Driving, followed by cycle theft, Violence and Anti-Social Behaviour.

Please consider filling out the survey about the concerns that you are seeing in our community.

Next meeting will take place on 27th November from 7-8pm. If you wish to attend, please email South Cambs to communitymeeting@cambs.police.uk and an email will be forwarded.

CONTACT DETAILS

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about the above, or any other matters. 

Firouz Thompson, County Councillor for Longstanton, Northstowe, Over and Oakington & Westwick Email: firouz.thompson@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2066298150052161/ Longstanton, Oakington and Northstowe https://www.facebook.com/libdems3rdMay18 – Over & Willingham

Report a highways fault – Cambridgeshire County Council

Report a flood – www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/business/planning-and-development/flood-and-water/report-aflood