Extra £12 a year Council Tax cost for average Cambridgeshire household to pay for buses

Households across Cambridgeshire are set to pay extra on their Council Tax bills in the upcoming year to help fund buses.

In a move slammed by opposition leaders across the area the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority's Board yesterday (Wednesday) approved the mayor's draft budget, which incorporates a Mayoral General Precept for the first time since the introduction of a metro mayor.

The mayoral precept will cost householders living in a band D property an extra £12 a year, which is forecast to bring in around £3.6m for the Combined Authority to use to fund bus services.

In a press statement the Combined Authority explained the move was in response to financial pressure it's facing across the bus services it supports.

Towards the end of last year the Combined Authority was forced to step in after bus operator Stagecoach announced it was withdrawing from 18 routes and reducing a further five because of a decline in bus travel, not helped by the pandemic, which had made them financially unsustainable.

The move prompted an outcry from residents who were left unable to get to work, school or doctors appointments. Fenland students in Chatteris were among those left high and dry by the Stagecoach decision.

The mayor, Combined Authority and local politicians reacted quickly to protect the services and a rapid re-tendering process was undertaken which resulted in all services being either fully or partially saved.

Rising costs mean the forecast costs of sustaining those services currently supported by the Combined Authority is £7m in 2022/23 double the existing £3.5m budget.

More generally, the Combined Authority’s central funding source is from ‘Gainshare’ funding secured from Government as part of the devolution deal. It is £20m per-year for 30 years and because it is fixed it buys less each year due to inflation. Currently inflation is in the double digits and so the effective amount the Combined Authority can provide is eroding faster than it has in the past.

Speaking of the precept, Cambridgeshire's deputy mayor, Councillor Anna Smith, said: “The decision to introduce a Mayoral precept has not been taken lightly and I would like to thank everyone at the Board meeting for their thoughtful contributions as part of such a considered debate.

"The decisions made are testament to the Board’s commitment to the mayor’s vision to improve public transport for all those in our region and not just in our cities and towns but in our rural areas too.

"Dr Nik Johnson has always been very clear that the future for our region has to be better public transport, not more cars and congestion. Buses are integral to a cleaner, healthier and lower carbon future for our region, and so our work to make services better is vital.

"The responses to the Medium Term Financial Plan survey were carefully considered as part of the debate. We know that this is an incredibly difficult time for everyone, and that during a cost of living crisis adding a precept of even £12 for a band D property will be hard to hear.

"However, we also know that buses have a great impact on the region as a whole and even those who do not use their services reap their benefits. For every £1 invested in local bus priority measures, up to £7 of net economic benefit is delivered.

"It is estimated it takes just three buses to replace as many as 200 cars on the road. If we needed to reduce services due to a lack of funding, removing buses will increase congestion, which in turn will affect the physical and mental wellbeing of residents across the Combined Authority region."

However, the Conservatives leaders of Fenland District Council, East Cambs District Council, and Peterborough City Council had tabled an amendment to the mayor’s budget in a bid to stave off the precept being set.

The amendment made a number of suggestions to balance the budget without the need to resort to a precept, including the cancellation of the delayed Cambridge Capital of Culture project saving £156k as well as bringing forward a modest 5% efficiency savings target.

They also suggested that 10 subsidised bus service contracts, which collectively only had 7,000 return journey users a year, not be renewed.

Councillor Chris Boden, Fenland Council's leader said: “Introducing a new tax should be the last resort, not the first. Devolution exists to receive powers and funding from Government, it should not be used as yet another method of raising funds through local taxation.”

And Councillor Anna Bailey, leader of East Cambs District Council said: “Taking money from people’s pockets with the force of law, particularly in the current cost of living crisis, without doing every single thing possible to avoid it is lazy, easy and wrong. The CPCA should live within its means; local tax payers should not be expected to pay for the failures of the mayor and the CPCA and it is not necessary to put yet another charge on hard pressed local Council Tax payers.”

It is estimated it takes just three buses to replace as many as 200 cars on the road. If we needed to reduce services due to a lack of funding, removing buses will increase congestion, which in turn will affect the physical and mental wellbeing of residents across the Combined Authority region.