County Council Monthly report October 2026

In this report:

LGR

STRATEGY, RESOURCES AND PERFORMANCE

• Quality of Life
• Council budget consultation

ADULTS & HEALTH

• Tackling obesity

CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

• Urgent campaign to find more adoptive families

COMMUNITIES, SOCIAL MOBILITY AND INCLUSION

• Council shares partnership award
• Unclaimed pension credit cashback campaign 
• Under-age sales 
• The Library Presents

ENVIRONMENT AND GREEN INVESTMENT

• Wind farm proposal for Chatteris border
• Milton Recycling Centre to be closed for an upgrade

HIGHWAYS & TRANSPORT

• Bus Services Reimagined
• Works on the way: Cadent Gas Works on Hills Road
• Reduction in overrunning roadworks

LOCAL GOVERNMENT REORGANISATION

Secretary of State Angela Rayner announced a ‘pause and review’ of local  government reorganisation in some areas—including Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. She said, “In light of legal advice, I want to satisfy myself that the right process is in place that is robust and of course complies with the law.”

We do not know how long the pause will be, or what exactly the review will  consider. We have been told that elections to Cambridge City Council will now take place in May 2027 after all, on existing ward boundaries. It is all a complete farce carried out at enormous cost to councils and taxpayers.
 

STRATEGY RESOURCES & PERFORMANCE

Quality of Life

Quality of life and happiness remain high across Cambridgeshire. Residents continue to experience high levels of happiness, with fewer people suffering from loneliness or mental health challenges, according to the results of Cambridgeshire County Council’s fourth Quality of Life survey.

This year, 6,912 residents shared their views on living in the county. 5,501 residents took part in the sample survey, approximately 1,100 in each of the five districts providing a representative view across the county. 

An additional 1,411 completed the online survey, enabling any resident to take part. These additional results will be analysed and published separately.

The responses received provide valuable insights into residents’ wellbeing, how they feel about the communities they live in, and the public services around them, including those provided by the County Council. Although concerns around the cost of living, climate change, and access to jobs remain high, many residents were more satisfied with services and reported feeling better informed by the County Council.

Key findings

• 84% of residents say they feel happy – this figure has remained consistent over four years.
• 24% say they often feel lonely, and 26%reported struggling with their mental health – this is lower than last year but still having the greatest impact on younger residents.
• 87% of residents reporting that they personally feel concerned about the cost of living – the same as last year – with over half (56%) reporting having taken action in the last year as a result of cost-of-living increases.
• 60% of residents say that the council keeps them well informed about the services it provides, representing a significant increase from 50% in 2025.
• Residents continue to be very satisfied with registration and library services (both 87%), followed by waste management (81%), park and ride and guided busway services (80%), and street lighting (78%).
• 55% of residents trust the council to make decisions about local services – higher than the national benchmark of 49%.
• 49% believe the council provides value for money – up from 47% last year and 41% in 2024. Satisfaction with roads and pavements has risen for a second consecutive year to 32%, up from 21% in 2024.

The County Council’s upcoming #BeWinterWise campaign for 2026 will help raise  awareness around issues of isolation, mental health and wellbeing, loneliness and the cost of living, all of which can worsen during the darker months. The campaign will also signpost people to support available across Cambridgeshire.

The County Council carried out the survey in partnership with Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority and Cambridge Ahead. The results provide valuable insight and evidence to support the council’s business planning processes. https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/council/quality-of-life-survey  

Council budget consultation

Every year, the council must set a legal budget which balances spending needs against income from council tax and other sources. With a growing population and rising demand for services, particularly in children’s social care and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), the council continues to face difficult decisions about how to balance priorities at a time when costs continue to rise.

The majority of day-to-day spending is required to support children’s and adult social care, education and SEND, and with the remainder the council has to maintain the highways network and deliver valued community-based services including libraries and registration services. The council also faces ongoing uncertainty about the Government’s plans for local government reorganisation.

The council’s budget proposals for 2027/28 will be debated at the full council meeting in February. Ahead of this, Cambridgeshire County Council has launched a public engagement survey to ask for residents’ opinions on where it should prioritise spending and savings in the years ahead. The recent Quality of Life Survey will also provide helpful insights into residents’ views.

The survey closes on Sunday 15 November, and can be found at  https://yourvoice.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/business-planning/27-28-phase-1-engagement/

ADULTS & HEALTH

Tackling obesity

The County Council’s Adults and Health Committee heard last month that although obesity rates in Cambridgeshire are below the national average for both children and adults, they are still too high, particularly in children and young people, and in groups with lower income.

Obesity rates remain higher in some communities across Cambridgeshire, particularly in Fenland, where higher rates of obesity are found amongst both children and adults. There continues to be a strong link between obesity and deprivation. Figures show that 28 per cent of Year 6 children in the most deprived areas of Cambridgeshire are living with obesity, compared to just 13.2 per cent in the least deprived areas.

Councils, the NHS, schools, community groups and other partners are working together to tackling obesity. This work recognises that maintaining a healthy weight is influenced by a wide range of factors, including access to healthy food, opportunities for physical activity, education, employment, the built environment and wider social and economic circumstances.

CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

Urgent campaign to find more adoptive families

35 children across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough are waiting to be adopted. Of these, 22 are boys, 13 are girls, 16 are under two years old and 14 are part of a sibling group—children waiting with their brothers and sisters can often wait longer to find the right family. 

Over the past twelve months, the average age of a child placed for adoption through Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Adoption Service was two years and six months. These children waited an average of seventeen months before finding their adoptive family—meaning that they had spent more than half their lives waiting for a permanent home.

Fewer people nationally and locally are putting themselves forward to adopt than there are children waiting to be adopted. The average age of people approved as adopters in the past year was 41, 10% of them over 50.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Adoption Service provides expert guidance from initial enquiry through to approval, matching and placement. Support continues long after a child joins their adoptive family, ensuring parents and children can access the help they need as their family grows.

Link up with Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Adoption Service:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/candpadoptionservice
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/candpadoptionservice/
• YouTube @cambridgeshirepeterborough2747
• Email adoptionenquiries@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
• Call 0300 123 1093
• Visit www.cpadoption.co.uk

COMMUNITIES, SOCIAL MOBILITY AND INCLUSION

Council shares partnership award

South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridgeshire County Council have won the award for Excellence in Partnership Working (The Fight Against Poverty) from the Institute of Revenues, Ratings and Valuation. 

This award is for our joint free school meal take up campaign within the district, using the Local Income Family Tracker (LIFT) system. The project resulted in 81 children now receiving free school meals, worth over £300,000 to their families over the lifetime of their education, and over £1 million to local schools in additional Pupil Premium funding. This work is being extended across other districts including East Cambridgeshire—see below.

Unclaimed pension credit cashback campaign 

Cambridgeshire County Council is working with district and city councils to contact families identified as eligible to receive currently unclaimed Pension Credit, aiming to put up to £2M per year back into residents’ pockets.

Over 700 households across Cambridgeshire will be contacted by letter, email and phone. Each household will be advised of their eligibility and provided with support to help them apply for their unclaimed benefit.

This is the county council’s first targeted campaign to increase residents’ income since approval of the procurement of the Low-Income Family Tracker (LIFT) software platform was approved at a meeting of the County Council’s Communities, Social Mobility and Inclusion Committee in February.

LIFT has been purchased for district and city councils in Cambridgeshire by the County Council, using funding from the UK Government’s Crisis and Resilience Fund via the DWP, as part of a campaign of income maximisation, intended to help build financial security for low-income families.

Identified residents will be contacted directly by their District Council. The campaign targets households eligible for the two elements of Pension Credit-Guarantee Credit and Savings Credit. Households may be eligible for both.

Based on an average Pension Credit claim of £4,300 a year, the five hundred households identified as eligible for Pension Credit Guarantee would have a total income gain of over £2m per year, ongoing, and should all apply.

Under-age sales 

Trading Standards officers have found two Cambridgeshire businesses selling age-restricted products to children during a series of test purchasing operations carried out across the county.

The exercises were conducted over the summer by the County Council’s Trading Standards team, working alongside Volunteer Police Cadets in Cambridgeshire aged between 14 and 16, and licensing teams from district councils.

Trading Standards encourages retailers to review their age verification policies and ensure staff consistently challenge anyone who appears under 25.

Concerns about young people accessing alcohol can be reported to Cambridgeshire Police online. Information about shops selling vapes or tobacco products to children under the age of 18 can be reported to Trading Standards’ advice partner, Citizens Advice Consumer Service, on 0808 223 1133 Monday to Friday or via the Citizens Advice Consumer Service online form over the
weekend. Reports may be made anonymously if wished. 

The Library Presents 

Chosen by residents, the autumn season of The Library Presents (16 October to 12 December) has a line-up of different events including music, comedy, theatre and workshops in art, craft and dance. Hosted in twenty-three Cambridgeshire Libraries, there will be something for everyone.

New offer: The Library Presents Level Up courses

New Level Up courses now offer the chance to dive deeper into specific artforms such as ceramics. The ticket price of the new course covers the costs of the artist and materials, and is not for profit. The service’s regular two-hour workshops continue as normal with their subsidised pricing.

Cambridgeshire is one of a small number of library authorities able to bring high-quality arts programmes to local communities, thanks to continued funding from Arts Council England. 

https://www.library.live/the-library-presents

ENVIRONMENT AND GREEN INVESTMENT

Wind farm proposal for Chatteris border

There has been an application to the county council for a new biodigester behind the East Cambridgeshire Council’s new crematorium.

Since then, Swedish company Vattenfall has announced that it will be submitting applications for two wind farms in the area, one of them next to the proposed new biodigester site and the crematorium.

Both of the wind farm applications will be determined by the Government, not by local councils, and there will be opportunities for comment as part of the process.

More information about the Chatteris wind farm, including how you can sign up for updates, at https://www.vattenfall.co.uk/our-projects/chatteris

Milton Recycling Centre to be closed for an upgrade

Subject to planning and environmental permits, the household recycling centre at Milton is likely to be closed after the first weekend in January so that a long-planned significant upgrade to the facilities can begin. This will mean extra demand will fall on the nearest alternative sites at Bluntisham, Thriplow and Witchford, which will introduce a booking system while the Milton HRC is closed.

HIGHWAYS & TRANSPORT

Bus Services Reimagined

Several routes across the county are being axed by the Combined Authority. This is an obvious outcome of the Mayor’s policy that he will not increase his ‘precept’ or share of the council tax, not even in line with inflation. This means more and more bus services across Cambridgeshire will be scrapped in the years to come, with the Mayor seeming to expect the Tiger On Demand buses to do a lot of heavy lifting to fill the gaps. The Mayor’s Combined Authority predicts a cut of 38 per cent in bus services by 2035 unless he changes his mind. The Tiger on Demand bus service is due to be reprocured in 2027.

The report announcing all these cuts was titled Bus Services Reimagined. This appears to be a plan whereby the Mayor takes away your real bus, and replaces it with an imaginary one. 

Works on the way: Cadent Gas Works on Hills Road

Cadent are replacing ageing metal pipes with more durable plastic pipes. This will increase the resilience of the network and make reactive repairs and disruption less likely in the future. The works are on Hills Road from around number 222 to near number 288. These works will be carried out under multi way traffic lights.

Works will start on 5th October 2026 and will last approximately 8 weeks.

Reduction in overrunning roadworks

The number of days roadworks overran in Cambridgeshire fell by almost half during 2025/26, as Cambridgeshire County Council stepped up enforcement, issuing more than £424,000 in fines and charges to utility companies and other organisations.

The council issued 1,443 Fixed Penalty Notices, generating £196,286, for offences including working without the necessary permit or failing to comply with permit conditions. A further £228,350 was recovered through charges for works that overran their agreed duration.

The number of days that works overran fell from 1,191 days in 2024/25 to 692 days in 2025/26, a reduction of almost 42 per cent. This suggests that enforcement activity and overrun charges are encouraging companies to complete works within agreed timescales and helping to keep roads open.

In total, the council issued 36,685 permits during 2025/26, regulating when and how works could take place across the county.

In Cambridgeshire 51 utility companies are permitted to work on our roads – and when that work is deemed an emergency, such as for a burst water main, they can legally start work before notifying the council.