Slides for a workshop on recent historical changes to local government structures in Cambridgeshire

1. About me
• I spent my entire childhood in Cambridge, but my
parents and grandparents lived in East Africa, India,
Mauritius, and Australia before moving to Cambridge in
the 1960s
• Local historian – Cambridge ‘the town’ (not the
University!)
• Political commentator – I research and write about local
government issues in and around Cambridge, and in
Westminster as well
• Civil Servant (2004-2011) working in a variety of policy
areas including
• Town planning
• Housing
• Community development
• Local government reform

2. Cambridge County Council (old style) 1958
Central Government can change local council boundaries through ‘Boundary Reviews’

3. Redcliffe-Maud (1969) HMSO – proposals prepared for
a Labour government (1966-70), *rejected* by the
Conservative government (1970-1974)
The structure brought in by the Conservative government
(1970-74) – similar to what we have today
https://data.cambridgeshireinsight.org.uk/ (2017)
Central Government can decide to ignore reviews and reports – especially if they were
commissioned by a previous government of a different political party!

4. The Conservative
government of 1990-97
under Prime Minister
John Major proposed
new changes.
Ministers invited local
councils to prepare
reports on what they
thought a new structure
could look like
The Government used
local newspapers to
publicise the proposed
changes, and to
encourage the public, to
‘have their say’
Few changes emerged
from this review – mainly
due to strong opposition
from rural districts

5. The Greater Cambridge Partnership
• ”The GCP evolved from the Cambridge City Deal 2014. which was an
agreement between the UK government and local councils that set out
to enable growth by investing in local infrastructure, housing and skills.
• The GCP is a body made up of elected representatives from three local
councils:
• Cambridgeshire County Council,
• Cambridge City Council and
• South Cambridgeshire District Council
• Additionally, The Government made provision for representation from
The University of Cambridge, and ‘The Business Community’
• Proposals first pass through an advisory committee (the Joint Assembly)
and then to the Executive Board for a final decision. The three elected
representatives on the Executive Board have full voting rights (one
from each of the three partner Councils) and there are two non-voting
members: one nominated by the Business Board and one nominated by
the University of Cambridge.”
Text: https://cambstravelalliance.org/what-is-the-greater-cambridge-partnership-gcp/

6. The Greater Cambridge Partnership
Representing central government - which was a coalition of
the Conservative Party, and the Liberal Democrats, were civil
servants who reported to a ministerial team from both
coalition partners. The agreement was ‘signed off’ – i.e.
endorsed, by ministers in 2014
Party political control of each of the councils to 2014 was:
- Cambridge City Council – Liberal Democrats (to May 2014)
- South Cambridgeshire District Council – Conservatives
- Cambridgeshire County Council – Conservatives*
(*Although the did not have a majority, the Conservatives gained approval from
councillors to approve the agreement)

7. Why three local councils?
Good question!
“Why didn’t the Government simply change the structure of the
councils?”
- The length of time, and the processes required for structural changes
- The potential political instability at the time – the UK had not had a
coalition government for many years
- Party political reasons, such as the Conservative Party not wanting an
enlarged Cambridge being governed by an opposition political party
following the long-term decline of the Cambridge Conservative
Association
- Cambridgeshire County Council had responsibility for transport policy,
so needed to be included even though the geographical area covered
by the City Deal Agreement (and thus the GCP) only covered a small
part of Cambridgeshire.

8. Ministers create *another* local
government organisation
Remember this?
- The result of the review in the 1990s was to
create a new separate council for
Peterborough, the old cathedral city which
was growing in population to become the
largest city in Cambridgeshire.
- Ministers decided to create a new
‘Combined Authority’ to take on new
transport planning powers that were
previously with Cambridgeshire County
Council
- Ministers decided to create an office of
Combined Authority Mayor – even though
there was no popular demand for such a
post.

9. Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
Combined Authority
What reasons can you think of as
to why ministers wanted to
create a new Combined
Authority? What alternatives
were available to them?
The governance structure of
Cambridgeshire now looks like
this (see left)
What do you think about this
structure?
If you were meeting with the
Minister for Local Government,
what advice would you give?
What evidence would you need
to justify your advice?

10. “The Case for Cambridge” 06 March 2024
Six days before I was due to give this presentation, the Government published a new
document on the future of Cambridge. The Government confirmed it will be creating a
*New Development Corporation* which will take decisions on town planning and transport
planning out of local council control.
The document does not say how
this new corporation will function
alongside the existing structure.
Imagine you are an adviser to the Leader of Cambridge City Council. What questions should he
be asking ministers about? What information should he ask ministers for? Give reasons.