South Cambs District Councillor (SCDC) Bill Handley’s Report to Over Residents – January 2026

Happy New Year everyone.

SCDC pledges £900,000 to local organisations through 3-year Service Support Grant funding

SCDC has just committed Service Support Grant funding of £300,000 a year to local groups to underpin the delivery of services to support people with their mental health, independent living, advice services, and to help residents through the cost-of-living crisis.

I’m delighted to report that Over Day Centre, for the first time, is one of the recipients of this funding.

 SCDC’s Service Support Grant funding has almost doubled compared to the previous budget, made possible by prudent management of the council’s finances and a recognition of the acute need for these services.

Grant recipients include:

• ***Over Day Centre – £30,000 per year to provide a transport and hospital discharge support service for older residents.***
• Cambridge and District Citizens Advice – £105,000 per year to provide free, confidential advice services to residents.
• Disability Huntingdonshire – £12,998 per year to support people with disabilities to live independently.
• Royston and District Community Transport (RDCT) – £7,000 per year to maintain accessible transport for those who need it most.
• Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre – £10,000 per year to deliver specialist support for survivors of sexual violence.
• Support Cambridgeshire (CCVS) – £20,000 per year to strengthen the voluntary and community sector in the district.
• Hope Against Poverty CIC – £14,400 per year to provide a Wellbeing Programme for people experiencing anxiety, bereavement, or social isolation.

More information, including the full list of grant recipients can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/exbkw6eu

Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Consultation

The government has now confirmed that the public consultation on LGR for our area will start in early February, and last for seven weeks. There will be statutory consultees (yet to be confirmed) but the general public will be invited to respond. I will include a link to this is a future report.

Local Authority Elections May 2026

As a consequence of the Local Government Reorganisation, just before Christmas the government wrote to all local authorities about next May’s elections. Because of the short time between the 2026 elections and those for shadow Unitary Councils planned for 2027 they have invited local authorities in England to request the cancellation of their May 2026 elections. This has divided opinion, with some people thinking that a postponement would be undemocratic and, at the other end of the spectrum, there are concerns that the voting public might be turned off by having two local elections within 12 months of each other; a real concern since only around 30% of the electorate turns out for local elections at the best of times.

National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) – new planning reforms

The government has launched a consultation on its proposals for reform of the NPPF and will run until March. The consultation can be found here. The councils’ planners will be digesting the proposals and will respond in the new year. I will report these comments to you when I can.

Bill

Bill Handley

District Councillor for Over and Willingham

Phone: 01954 200287 (leave a message). Email: cllr.handley@scambs.gov.uk