On the 18th of November 2014 I observed the first public meeting of the members of the Greater Cambridge City Deal Board.
The Greater Cambridge City Deal is at least £100m which the UK has, as a nation, decided to invest in Cambridge. Following the initial £100m two further central government grants of £200m each have been promised, conditional on yet to be set targets being met.
The money is to be spent addressing some of the factors which are currently restricting the performance of the “Cambridge Phenomenon”. It will be spent on transport infrastructure, accelerating the provision of new homes, and on providing educational and training opportunities. Another key element is work towards improving east-west rail links, including between Cambridge and Oxford.
Eventually £1000m (£1 billion) of public money may be spent via the city deal, as the local councils and other public bodies put money in. The public investment is expected to attract a further £4 billion of private money.
Full Video of First Public Meeting of Board Members
Decisions Taken at the 18 November 2014 Meeting
- The board members approved the Communications Strategy as it was presented to them with just one minor amendment tabled by officers
- The board members agreed to add agenda items titled “Housing” and “Smart and Digital” to their future agendas.
Other Notable Points from the 18 November 2014 Meeting
- The University of Cambridge said, at 27:28 it was ready to start talking about investing in new homes in Cambridge. The university representative Prof Sanders said:
As far as the university is concerned we are keen to enter into discussion as soon as we can and to see the terms of the new venture and to see if it will indeed be possible for us to join in and invest. We’re ready.
- Cllr Herbert said he was keen to provide buses, and their passengers, with a route from the north to the south of the city avoiding the city centre.
- The meeting was over quite quickly, and was uncontentious. Cllr Herbert noted things would certainly change when details of the proposed transport schemes started to be discussed next year
- There was a lot of talk about the board operating in an open manner, and to engage widely
- The board is to hold special events for residents’ associations. [I hope similar access to information and officers is offered to the wider public too].
- Professor Sanders of the University of Cambridge at (18.20) urged the early publication of meeting papers, saying that publishing papers the day before “isn’t going to work”. The key paper for the November 2014 meeting was published very late.
- Cllr Herbert, at 38:17 stated:
It’s certainly our view as councillors that there are potentially non-tarmac elements to the city deal in terms of transport solutions and connectivity which would really make a difference. We have got areas particularly of South Cambridgeshire which could do with improvements in broadband, further mobile connections, and generally we’ve got large employers who need to be better connected.
- The agenda was concluded quickly, by 40:12, and the leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council proposed an impromptu public question session, which then occurred. A series of questions were asked by Antony Carpen.
- The elements of the board’s work on skills education and apprenticeships were raised (33:25) and the board members were told there is quite a lot of work going on but there was still a way to go, and discussions with central government are underway, and officers were looking at “how priority skills are delivered”.
- The City Deal Document promises, under the heading “Streamlined planning“: “Greater Cambridge will develop a Planning Charter by December 2014 which will provide the detail of the future Planning Performance Agreement offer to developers”. Progress developing a shared service on planning (35:30) was discussed raised but there was no substantive update.
Filming
I had no problems filming the November 2014 meeting and the board’s draft rules of procedure which will apply from January 2015 permit filming. I am still unclear on if a university can actually be a member of a joint committee of local councils which is the type of entity planned for the board once it formally comes into existence in January 2015.
In the longer term we may see a “combined authority”; with some County Council powers being delegated to it, and eventually we could see a single council for Greater Cambridge.
My View
The Greater Cambridge City Deal is a fantastic opportunity for Cambridge. I think investing in Cambridge is a great way for the UK to strengthen the national economy and to ensure Cambridge makes the most of its potential to contribute to humanity.
The problems Cambridge faces locally with housing and transport need to be addressed so the city can make the greatest possible contribution to the country and the world. This is also an opportunity to make Cambridge a more pleasant and practical place to live.
Meeting Papers
- Papers for the 18 November 2014 meeting of members of the Greater Cambridge City Deal Board
- Greater Cambridge City Deal Executive Board Terms of Reference – Cambridge City Council November 2014 Paper
- Government Press Release – Greater Cambridge City Deal signed
- The Greater Cambridge City Deal Document
- Greater Cambridge City Deal Report – Cambridge City Council April 2014 Paper
9 responses to “First Public Meeting of Greater Cambridge City Deal Board Members”
Only one Cambridge City Councillor, Cllr Kevin Blencowe, observed the meeting. No councillors from North Cambridge, and none of my own councillors, were present.
Speaking in Parliament just before the meeting took place Cambridge’s MP Julian Huppert spoke positively about the City Deal and asked for more powers to be devolved to Cambridge:
The leader of Cambridge City Council, Cllr Lewis Herbert, has said he will respond to Nick Clegg’s invitation for further proposals to build on the city deal:
I’m still puzzled. Is this currently a joint committee of local councils, which will become a Combined Authority at some future point?
My understanding is currently the board is a non-entity. As the chair said at the beginning of the meeting it doesn’t really exist. This is despite it meeting, being serviced by a cadre of highly paid very senior officers, and taking decisions.
The board will become a joint committee of local councils in January. However I personally am confused as to how a joint committee of local councils can include a university and a local enterprise partnership. The university and LEP while not voting members, have been described as core and key members of the board with similar status (other than voting rights) to the councils.
The board may become a combined authority at some point (taking over powers from the County Council), or we may even see one council for Greater Cambridge taking on its role.
Well here (on Merseyside) the Liverpool City Combined Authority was created in April of this year.
Prior to that it was called the Liverpool City Region Cabinet (leaders of the councils). Technically from 2012 to 2014 it’s meetings should’ve been held in public but nobody knew when or where they were (outside of those on them) and even getting access to the minutes was made difficult.
Like your board, it was presumably served then (behind closed doors) and is now as a Combined Authority by very senior officers in the local councils (Chief Executive level for example). When it switched to a Combined Authority, the Chair changed from the Mayor of Liverpool to the Leader of Wirral Council.
So yes, unless it’s a combined authority, joint committee of local councils, fire and rescue authority, police and crime panel or one of the other bodies covered by the filming legislation in England at the stage you describe it (which seems to be a shadow stage) it probably falls (although I’d have to seek legal advice on that and I don’t know enough to ask the question) outside the recent changes to filming public meetings legislation.
City Deal raises questions about the future of local goverment and democracy. It will deal with major developments, involving millions of pounds, with reduced planning control, and reduced democratic control. Is it really right that a major developer should be placed in such an important strategic position?
I notice in a recent press article, about a possible new railway station at Addenbrooke’s, that there is a “Greater Cambridge Assembly”, which seems to be a successor to “the board” and “Greater Cambridge” referred to above. This new, unelected, unaccountable gathering will be taking up the time of paid people, and presumably making decisions that will affect us all. It seems to be composed of local and county councillors, with representatives from the two universities, Marshalls, and the Local Enterprise Partnership. The Anglia Ruskin University delegate is Helen Valentine, who also participated in the debacle on payrises for councillors a couple of years ago.
How I long to live in an elected democracy, or a benevolent dictatorship, rather than this kakistocracy (Kakistocracy definition, government by the worst persons; a form of government in which the worst persons are in power).
http://scambs.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s77053/City%20Deal%20Governance%20Appendix%20C.pdf – This is an appendix on the constitution of the new Assembly