A new charge to support public transport labelled by some councillors as “lazy and wrong” will be introduced across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough this year.
The mayoral general precept of £1 a month, or £12 annually for a band D property, will be added by the county’s Combined Authority (CAPCA) to people’s council tax bills.
It is the first time that CAPCA has launched a mayoral precept, aimed at funding public transport in Cambridgeshire, since it was formed.
A report presented at a CAPCA Board meeting on January 25 said the new charge was expected to raise £3.6 million in 2023-24, in response to “pressure facing the Combined Authority across its supported bus services”.
“Implementing a mayoral precept would help safeguard the services which are critical for some residents of CAPCA to work, learn and participate in society for the medium-term,” the report said.
“[This is] while the authority continues to develop the case for franchising in coordination with Greater Cambridge Partnership to incorporate the results of their work around Cambridge.”
The report said that the funding would be “ringfenced” to support passenger transport services in the area and would not be used to support the authority’s core costs.
The report added that the cost of the new services was “considerably higher” than the services they replaced, due to increase in fuel, energy, and driver costs.
CAPCA agreed to fund several bus services across the county last year that Stagecoach were planning to cut.
However, another report discussed in November found that it would cost the authority £7m to fund the existing bus network for 2023-24, double its planned budget of £3.5m.
Some Conservative board members voiced their opposition to the mayoral precept.
Councillor Anna Bailey, leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council, said: “Taking money from people’s pockets with the force of law, particularly in a cost-of-living crisis, while not doing everything possible to avoid it is lazy and wrong.
“The Combined Authority should live within its means and taxpayers should not pay for the failures of the mayor.”
Cllr Chris Boden, leader of Fenland District Council, said most people who responded to a CAPCA consultation on the proposed budget did not support a mayoral precept.
He said: “There is no need for us to have a mayoral precept this year; not only is it not needed [but] it is not wanted.”
Cllr Lucy Nethsingha, leader of Cambridgeshire County Council, said she recognised the precept was a “new burden”.
But she thought people saw the need to change the way the public transport system worked.
“It is an important step forward in a vision towards an area where public transport can be more reliable and more climate friendly,” said Cllr Nethsingha.
A message from Dr Nik Johnson, mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough who is on a leave of absence on medical advice, was read out at the meeting.
Dr Johnson said the decision to add a pound a month to council tax bills was not easy, but the precept would “save for another year the bus routes that matter so much to our residents”.
Cllr Anna Smith, deputy mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, felt a mayoral precept during a cost of living crisis would 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.”
The annual mayoral precept charge for different bands will be:
- Band A: £8, Band B: £9.33, Band C: £10,67, Band D: £12, Band E: £14.67, Band F: £17.33, Band G: £20, Band H: £24.
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