County Councillor Peter McDonald’s report for September 2022

To monitor service levels during the trial, the Council would use its standard set of statistics which are regularly updated. These keep a check on things like how long it takes the Council to process benefits claims, Council house rent collections, how fast planning applications are determined, staff turnover, call answering times and more. Industry-standard health and wellbeing surveys will also be used to measure success and be compared against the results from a survey carried out last month (August 2022) before the four-day week trial was announced to staff. The next steps, which could include a longer trial period, would be dependent on the performance of Council services during the first three months of 2023.

As part of the trial, the Council would also look to extend the hours that it is open to the public via a soon-to-be-launched webchat service or Teams / Zoom meetings.

For more than a year, the Council has only been able to fill around eight out of every ten (or fewer) of its vacancies. Between January and March 2022, only around half were filled. There are currently 23 agency staff covering office-based roles, which should ideally be filled by people in permanent positions. Over a whole year, these agency staff could cost the Council more than £2million. If the Council filled all these posts with permanent staff, it would only cost around £1million per year.

A four-day week, which for a full-time employee at the Council would consist of 30 hours, can make an organisation stand out from others and be more attractive to talent. It is also seen as a tangible incentive to encourage staff to stay.

Another aspiration of the trial is to investigate whether it would help the Council to attract a more diverse workforce. For example, for those families where childcare costs can be a big blocker from working, or those people with caring responsibilities, it could be a more attractive option than the traditional five-day working week model. This is because the cost of childcare or caring could be reduced, which can also help support wider cost of living rises.

The proposals that will be discussed at the Council’s Cabinet meeting on Monday 12 September 2022 recommend that a three-month trial for desk-based staff takes place between January and March 2023. There are around 470 staff at the Council who would be able to take part. There would be a three-month planning period beforehand. If successful, a trial of the Council’s blue-collar workers, such as bin collection crews, would follow later next year.

ZCC Grants

Twelve exciting community projects in South Cambridgeshire, aimed at reducing carbon emissions and engaging communities on climate change, are set to receive grant funding totalling £120,544 from the District Council.

The Zero Carbon Communities grants, awarded by South Cambridgeshire District Council, are part of its vision to help the district become net zero carbon by 2050, to create a greener future for local people.

This is the fourth round of grants since they were established in May 2019. More than £400,000 has been allocated to 61 different grass roots projects including campaigns and awareness-raising around reducing carbon emissions, tree planting, energy efficient heating and lighting, food production and distribution, and waste reduction.

Grants awarded are here:

https://www.scambs.gov.uk/zero-carbon-communities-grant-funds-12-community-groups-as-part-of-the-council-s-green-vision/

Cambridgeshire County Report

Cost of living Support. This mirrors the South Cambs information and also to be updated regularly.

https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/council/communities-localism/support-with-the-cost-of-living

GCP Proposals for Bus Services Improvement & Congestion Charge

The GCP has published their proposals for enhanced bus service and a Cambridge congestion charge. It includes bus improvements (hourly services in our villages where they don’t exist) and £1 & £2 fares and a congestion charge of £5 in 2025 in peak hours and a 7am to 7pm charge in 2026/27 to pay for this.

https://cambridgeshire.cmis.uk.com/ccc_live/Meetings/tabid/70/ctl/ViewMeetingPublic/mid/397/Meeting/1857/Committee/36/Default.aspx

Great Chesterford Hardcore Site : ESS/20/22/UTT

This was eventually refused by officers and Enforcement Action is being taken.

Highways IT system

The Council will tender for a new Insight system which includes the Highways reporting tool.

Local Highways Improvement updates

The schemes in Thriplow and Foxton are progressing as well as the 20 mph zone for Duxford