Report From Cambridgeshire County Councillor Firouz Thompson – March 2025
Dear Residents
Spring is in full swing with the Easter holidays just around the corner – I hope that you’re enjoying the days getting longer and milder. It’s still important to be seen if you’re walking, cycling, or wheeling, please stay visible when in low light to keep our roads safe for everyone.
Here is my monthly update, which is an edited version of the full report that I provide to the parish councils in my ward.
HIGHWAYS incl. Road Surface Treatments for 2025/26
The condition of our roads and pavements is still a huge challenge, in Cambridgeshire as it is nationwide—a mixture of inadequate Government funding, decades of neglect, extreme weather, and in some cases poor standards of repair. The Highways and Transport Committee agreed a £59m highways maintenance and improvement programme for 2025/26. The county’s roads need more than £400m worth of maintenance to address all the issues, and that does not include soil impacted roads, which is roughly an additional £530m.
The current administration has doubled investment to £59 million this year—the highest in over a decade. However, reversing years of neglect will take time.
As part of the 2025/26 maintenance programme, I am pleased to report several roads and footpaths in Over will be undergoing surface treatment to improve durability and safety.
- Gravel Bridge Road & Longstanton Road will receive Gripfibre Treatment this summer, with final pre-patching work due before then, some took place in December and recently in March. Gripfibre treatment will commence 27May for 5 days under a full road closure. Once this is completed, our main contractor will meet with me onsite to assess the overrun verge edges that will require our attention.
- Glover Street & Long Furlong, originally set for Micro Asphalt Treatment, have been upgraded to Gripfibre for better resilience, which is currently scheduled for Tuesday 6May for two days under a full road closure between the hours of 9:30am and 2:30pm (weather permitting). Following this, any adjustment of Ironwork will be identified and marked up for adjustment by the contractor within 40 days, and the road markings should be replaced within 28 days of the final sweep.
- Byway BY21 (Furtherford/Hither Way Track/Long Lane) – Filling ruts, drainage work, and vegetation clearance.
- Footpath FP11 (Overcote Rd to Fen End) – Addressing erosion.
- Church End – Adding “Keep Clear” markings
Footpath Improvements: Footpaths on Glover Street, Long Furlong, and Fen End are scheduled for Footway Slurry Treatment in 2025/26.
Addressing Road Edge Erosion: For Longstanton Road and Gravel Bridge Road edge erosion, given the high cost of a full-depth structural repair, would require digging to a depth of around 500mm, which would be a major project needing special funding. The Gripfibre Treatment will take place this summer and officers will look thereafter to reinforce eroded edges with road planings, topsoil, grass seed, and verge marker posts, and add edge lines to guide road users and protect the carriageway. This is by far a more effective solution and will need confirmation if this can take place in 2025/26.
Fen End Drainage Issue – Officers assessing solutions for a blocked drain causing flooding and road erosion. Recent gully cleaning completed on 13 March and a large area should be patched outside no. 4 and regrade the sloping verge.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT REORGANISATION
The Government published the English Devolution White Paper in December, which set out their programme to achieve greater devolvement of powers and their intent to undertake Local Government Reorganisation.
On 5 February 2025, the Government issued an invitation to every council leader in two-tier areas of local government and neighbouring unitary authorities. The invitation asked for an interim update to be submitted on or before 21 March 2025.
The criteria continue to include an expectation that the new councils will cover populations of at least 500,000 unless there are special circumstances; and that existing district council boundaries will be the building blocks, again unless a strong argument can be made against this.
Council Leaders across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough to explore the impacts and various options for our county. We issued a response to the Minister outlining our position The letter is available for you to read.
A further submission will need to be made to the Government in the autumn.
There will be advantages to moving to a unitary council system, not least more clarity and accountability over who is responsible for services such as streetlights or waste. But it’s clear that the Government is wanting a ‘quick’ solution, rather than taking the time—and consultation—to do it properly.
There is a lot of work ahead of us to explore financially viable scenarios and I am pleased to share we have collectively approached reorganisation with a spirit of wanting the best for all our residents and for the local area as a whole.
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COUNCIL SHORTLISTED FOR FOUR NATIONAL AWARDS
Cambridgeshire County Council has been shortlisted as a finalist in four categories of the Local Government Chronicle Awards.
- Community involvement: two projects from the Fenland Youth Work Network supporting young people aged 11-18 who are at risk of serious violence, exploitation, and involvement in county lines.
- Health and social care: Cambridgeshire Shared Lives Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse Project, working with survivors of domestic abuse with learning disabilities and/or autism.
- Future places: innovative connectivity projects including a private 5G Open Radio Access Network (RAN), development of an augmented reality experience, and enhanced mobile coverage analysis.
- Innovation: Cambridgeshire’s ‘Dig Once’ policy, integrating fibre ducting into new transport infrastructure projects, resulting in a large CO2 reduction and significantly less disruption to road users.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony on 11 June.
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CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE
Free Breakfast Club pilot
Fourteen primary schools across Cambridgeshire are set to run a free breakfast club as part of the pilot for a new Government scheme in April. 750 schools across the country have been selected to take part in an ‘early adopters’ scheme which will test the delivery of the programme before it is implemented nationally.
The pilot is set to launch in April and will run until July, before it is introduced across the UK. The schools chosen for the pilot will offer a free breakfast to all pupils and at least 30 minutes of childcare before school.
The fourteen Cambridgeshire schools selected are:
- Buckden CofE Primary School, St Neots
- Peckover Primary School, Wisbech
- Mepal and Witcham CofE Primary School, Ely
- Hartford Junior School, Huntingdon
- Hartford Infant and Pre School, Huntingdon
- Stapleford Community Primary School, Cambridge
- Upwood Primary Academy, Huntingdon
- St Laurence Catholic Primary School, Cambridge
- Great Wilbraham CofE Primary School, Great Wilbraham
- Meldreth Primary School, Royston
- The Spinney Primary School, Cambridge
- Kings Hedges Primary School, Chesterton
- Northborough Primary School, Peterborough
- St John Henry Newman Catholic VA Primary School, Peterborough
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said that the free breakfast clubs would help break the link “between background and success” for families.
The scheme has been welcomed by the headteachers’ union, though they fear that the funding allocated by Government will fall short of the cost and have said it is ‘crucial’ that concerns are addressed before the national rollout.
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COMMUNITIES, SOCIAL MOBILITY & INCLUSION (COSMIC)
Security support for domestic abuse survivors
The council has renewed a scheme which helps survivors of domestic abuse to feel safer and more secure in their own homes.
The scheme provides additional security measures which can delay or prevent a perpetrator from entering a property. It supported 525 people across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough between April 2023 and March 2024.
Measures offered depend on the level of risk, and may include window alarms, additional bolts, lock changes, security advice, video doorbells, dummy cameras, and response lights. The service is available for all types of housing, whether owned, privately rented, or social housing.
The contract will be funded by a Safe Accommodation grant from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), enabling the council to carry out its statutory duty.
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HIGHWAYS & TRANSPORT
Fen roads trial
A trial to investigate new and innovative ways to repair soil affected roads is being considered by the council.
£1.5M of external funding has been secured, and an extra £5M of capital funding has been assigned specifically to repair and reconstruct soil affected roads before the end of the next financial year. The £1.5M from Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority is for the development, design, and delivery of possible long-term solutions to address roads built over peat soils.
Some of the trial options could include using lightweight recycled products, an ‘ultra-low’ carbon material, or a technique that involves treating materials on site to improve their strength and durability. The exact processes will be decided on following further design and development work.
The plan is to trial this on the B1099 Upwell Road near March. This is because it is built over peat soils, forms part of Cambridgeshire’s rural road network with both heavy vehicle and agricultural traffic making it comparable to a lot of other similar routes and is due for renewal soon.
If approved, design work including on-site investigations and stakeholder engagement would start in May. The aim is for the trial to begin in summer next year.
Other Highways news
Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP)
The LCWIP routes, as approved at the October 2022 Highways and Transport Committee are being progressed through a multitude of different funding streams from different bodies such as Active Travel
England, National Highways, District Councils, and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, the County Council and from new development or developer contributions when appropriate.
https://cambridgeshire.cmis.uk.com/ccc_live/MeetingsCalendar/tabid/70/ctl/ViewMeetingPublic/mid/397/Mee ting/2350/Committee/62/SelectedTab/Documents/Default.aspx (Item 8, Appendix 3 South Cambridgeshire pages 20-23)
Active Travel hierarchies
Work has been undertaken to create a hierarchy for active travel routes across the county. This will be used to help prioritise maintenance and repairs of routes used by pedestrians and cyclists in future.
The updated hierarchies can be seen on the online map at https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/active-travelhierarchy-map and maps for each district area are also available at https://cambridgeshire.cmis.uk.com/ccc_live/MeetingsCalendar/tabid/70/ctl/ViewMeetingPublic/mid/397/Mee ting/2350/Committee/62/SelectedTab/Documents/Default.aspx (Item 10, Appendices 12-13 South Cambridgeshire)
************************************************************************************* MEANWHILE on the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority
The Mayor has now signed into effect a decision to introduce franchising of bus services in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. This would put control of routes, fares and timetables into democratic hands, and enable profit-making routes to subsidise socially needed but less used ones. However, as he is not standing again in May, this will be for his successor to implement.
The Environment & Sustainable Communities Committee considered plans for the completion of the Local Nature Recovery Plan by the end of this calendar year.
The Combined Authority approved its spending plans from 2025/26, funding improvements to transport, skills and business growth. Separately, the Mayor’s budget was also approved and confirmed that the Mayoral precept portion of council tax bills will be frozen for 2025/26. Included in the approved budget is the extension of the £2 bus fare cap to 30 June 2025, moving to a £2.50 fare cap from July to December 2025. This aims to maintain affordable and accessible travel, reduce road congestion, and ease cost-of-living pressures.
The Combined Authority secured £2.4m to support local people in getting good jobs. This funding will support skills bootcamps which are designed to equip local people with the skills they need to advance their careers. This is a fantastic collaboration between employers, learning providers, and the Combined Authority, working together to up-skill residents, fill vacancies, support the unemployed, and develop workforce talent across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Skills bootcamps are an excellent initiative, and I urge people to take advantage of them.
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
