Cambridgeshire council leaders respond to Minister for Local Government on unitaries

Posted byCambridge Town OwlPosted inUncategorized

Cambridge City Council publishes papers including a draft response on behalf of all but one of the council leaders in the Combined Authority area

The meeting papers for 17th March 2025 are at item 5 here

Interestingly, the earlier items on city council governance restructuring contain no mention of area committees – something that councillors said they would review following their effective suspension on due to the pandemic. In the grand scheme of things it’s probably not worth bringing them back outside of the proposals to restructure local government across the county.

Cambs Unitaries Campaign public meeting – Sat 08 March 2025, 11am, Mill Road Centre, Cambridge

The details are here, and for those of you who use Eventbrite, here too

A recap of why the Unitaries campaign was formed.

It was because of this:

Above – from Smarter Cambridge Transport – a big mess

I gave a short presentation that was an historical crash course on how we got to here at the first public meeting of the Cambs Unitary Campaign (of which I am a member – recall in 2023 I called for the abolition of the existing structures as an Independent Candidate in Queen Edith’s ward at the Cambridge City Council elections). You can see my write up of that meeting in April 2024 here. I don’t think any of us in that room anticipated a general election being called in the weeks that followed, nor the succeeding Government tabling new policies that confirmed the creation of unitary councils for the whole of England in the subsequent months.

But here we are.

In December 2024 the Minister for Local Government, Jim McMahon MP (the former Leader of Oldham Borough Council in Greater Manchester) gave an oral statement to Parliament as ministers are constitutionally required to do when the Government decides on a major policy change.

I included links to his speech, and that of the Deputy Prime Minister in Leeds on the same day, in this blogpost here.

Which inevitably meant the cautious approach from Cambridge City Council Leader Mike Davey (Lab – Petersfield), given the concerns he raised at one of the public meetings back in late July 2024, will have to change because in February 2025 the Minister for Local Government wrote to council leaders across the country setting out his approach and timetable.

It is that timetable that has resulted in the meeting item at item 5 for the upcoming Extraordinary Council Meeting on 17th March.

Furthermore, it was one of the reasons the Cambs Unitary Campaign decided to go ahead with a meeting on the proposals from ministers – because the deadline for responses from local councils for their initial proposals is on 21st March, with final submissions in late November 2025

So if you’re free on Saturday, do pop along.

I’ll also be hosting a separate informal TeaCambs2 small gathering on Sunday afternoon from 2.30pm at The Rock Pub on Cherry Hinton Road for anyone who cannot make Saturday.

In the meantime, keep on reading and sharing the knowledge with people who are showing an interest in all things politics and democracy in the light of the instability in international politics, and also the big changes proposed for Cambridge.

Above – what the postman brought today.

And if you’re really keen, pop into the Cambridge Room in The Grafton Centre!

The Cambridge Room – created by a number of rebellious types in Cambridge University including their Professor of Architecture Flora Samuel, spent ages working to get this opened on 03 March 2025. (I’ve been following the project for over 18 months) and it also has a stack load of books that I’ve placed for people to read – including the Holford Wright Report of 1950 that still influences our city today. (I’m hoping the big map will be put up on one of the walls too).

NEW EVENT: “Building an Inclusive and Participatory Planning System”

Prof Flora Samuel will be giving a talk and hosting a discussion on an issue that has been a hot topic in and around Cambridge for decades. It’s on Thurs 20th March from 6pm at Wood-Legh Room Strathaird, Lucy Cavendish College. (Note back in 1962 one planning expert said the people of Cambridge did not understand their own town planning problems.

Above – maybe there was something in the vision of Clement Attlee’s Government that we could learn from today?

Food for thought?

If you are interested in the longer term future of Cambridge, and on what happens at the local democracy meetings where decisions are made, feel free to: