Local Councillors

District and County Councillors’ Report

School Meal Vouchers

The Council has agreed to provide supermarket vouchers over the summer holidays for families entitled to free school meals. Up to £537,000 of council funds will be needed to make up the difference between Government funding and the cost of ensuring all eligible families have their needs met.

Vaccination Drive

Please help support the current Covid vaccination drive, as well as rapid flow home testing, at a time when Covid cases have risen sharply in South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge, especially among younger people. Addenbrooke’s and our GP surgeries are working very hard with long waiting lists and there is little if any extra capacity to deal with further pressures. Vaccination data can be seen here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/ statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-vaccinations.

Thank You to GP surgeries

GP surgeries are under unprecedented pressure with an enormous backlog of patient need, in many cases with medical conditions having worsened through time and Covid-inflicted delay. We’d like to say thank you to everyone supporting our GP practices, from nurses and GPs and dispensary staff to receptionists answering incoming calls.

Apprenticeships Funding

Cambridgeshire County Council has agreed to transfer £273,000 of its apprenticeship levy fund to K-10, an organisation set up to support apprenticeships in the construction industry. K-10 will work with award winning housebuilder Hill to find placements for the 21 apprentices in the county, allowing them to gain skills and qualifications in plumbing, electrical, carpentry, groundworks, drylining, bricklaying and painting. As a levy paying employer, the council is able to transfer 25% of unused, annual levy funds to other employers that wish to utilise apprenticeships to train their staff. As the transfer of funds would support employment for Cambridgeshire residents on major construction projects with Hill, the funding transfer was approved.

All of the apprenticeship positions are full time with the first year pay rate being £8.36 per hour. Apprentices will all be studying at colleges or training providers within the county for the duration of their apprenticeships. K10 is recruiting now, so if you know of anyone aged 18 or above who may be interested in one of these fantastic opportunities, please encourage them to apply at www.k-10.co.uk/vacancies or send their CV directly to K10 at mahbub-uddin@k-10.co.uk.

Learning Disability Partnership – Employment Opportunities

The Cambridgeshire Learning Disability Partnership (LDP) brings together specialist health and social care services for people with a learning disability. The LDP is responsible for commissioning and providing these services on behalf of Cambridgeshire Primary Care Trust and Cambridgeshire County Council. Some staff are employed by the County Council and some by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mental Health Trust, but they are all part of the LDP. The roles we currently have available are:  Nurses  Lead Nurse for Adults with Learning Disabilities  Senior Community Nurse  Psychologists  Principal Clinical/Counselling Psychologist  Highly Specialist Clinical Psychologist- Huntingdon & March  Occupational Therapists  Specialist Occupational Therapist  Physiotherapists  Lead Physiotherapist Please click here to go to our vacancy home page for further information and to apply. https://www.cpft.nhs.uk/latest-vacancies.

Community Chest Grant Update

The South Cambridgeshire District Council Community Chest is available to voluntary and community sector groups, charities and public sector bodies wishing to further improve quality of life in South Cambridgeshire. There are small grants available of up to £1,000 for one-off costs relating to a project or activity. The application page and criteria can be found here: https://www.scambs.gov.uk/communitydevelopment/grants/community-chest-grants.

SCDC Growth Fund Open for Applications

The South Cambridgeshire Growth fund is opening for applications on 1st July 2021. This is for micro and small businesses operating in/from South Cambridgeshire. Priority applicants will include those who have not previously received government backed (Covid related) funding. A one-off grant of between £1,000 to a maximum of £50,000 will be awarded to eligible applicants. The Growth Fund scheme is designed to support businesses’ growth and expansion plans in the district. Eligible applicants for the scheme must be South Cambridgeshire based start-ups which are looking to scale and grow quickly, or they can be established South Cambridgeshire based companies which can clearly demonstrate ambitious growth plans in the District. Businesses in any sectors can apply, including sole traders and partnerships. One- off grants of between £1,000 and £50,000 may be awarded to successful applicants. The scheme will end when all funds have been allocated.

Ditch Maintenance

At Susan’s invitation, a County Council officer came to Meldreth in mid-July to advise on volunteer action to improve the condition of the privately owned ditch in Chiswick End. In years past, neighbourhood working parties have formed to keep on top of maintenance and this is something that we hope to encourage again.

Drains Reported

Following the heavy rainfall in June, Highways have been alerted to the still problematic drains in North End and the High Street. Please don’t hesitate to go on County Highways reporting page to log problems you’re aware of: https://highwaysreporting.cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

Visibility at Junctions

Thank you for messages we’ve received about poor visibility at road junctions – we are responding to these via County Highways grass cutting team. Of particular concern, as every year, is the Kneesworth Road/Whitecroft Road junction and the Melbourn by-pass junction.

A1198 Safety Improvements

We’re delighted to share Whaddon Parish Council’s news of a successful Local Highways Improvement grant for a lower speed limit, supported by infrastructure adjustments, along the A1198 between

Whaddon Gap and Kneesworth – an important stretch of road that includes the entrance to Bassingbourn Barracks, the key turn to Whaddon village, several residential neighbourhoods and the entry way to Kneesworth.

Fowlmere Aerodrome Traffic

Jose and Sally Ann report: Following a conversation with an Environment Enforcement Officer at SCDC we have been advised that any complaints relating to air traffic into and out of Fowlmere Aerodrome would fall under the remit of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and not South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC). Any complaints about this activity would therefore need to be reported to them using this link: https://www.caa.co.uk/Passengers/Resolving-travel -problems/How-the-CAA-can-help/How-the-CAA-can-help.

South Cambridgeshire Community Safety Partnership

The South Cambridgeshire Community Safety Partnership which Sally Ann has joined, has launched a free toolkit to help local people keep caring for their community as the pressures of the pandemic ease. Areas included are:  Preventing anti-social behaviour  Crime prevention in your community  Reaching your community  Combating loneliness and social isolation  Tackling road related concerns  Making the environment feel safer and greener More information can be found at https://www.scambs.gov.uk/ community-development/crime-anti-social-behaviour-and-communitysafety/community-safety-toolkit. Please contact Sally Ann with any questions.

Settled status for EU citizens

The deadline for EU citizens to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme has now passed. However, the process is difficult, many long-term residents have not realised they need to apply (they were promised in 2016 that their right to remain would be automatic) and there is a large number of residents who have therefore not completed or even begun their applications and who are therefore at risk of losing homes, jobs,

and basic rights such as healthcare. Efforts are being made to ensure the County Council continues to support these residents.

Thakeham and South West Cambridge New Town

There is still no news from Thakeham on a submission to the Local Plan.

Zoom Cuppa Surgeries

If you’d like to meet with us by Zoom, to bring any concerns or ask any questions, please come along to our weekly Wednesday Zoom Cuppa Surgery, 5.00-6.00pm. Please email Sally Ann for a link. We’re always available by telephone or email, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

District Councillor Sally Ann Hart, sallyannhart@riskingonpurpose.com, 07791 233303 District Councillor Jose Hales, Josehales@gmail.com, 07703262649 County Councillor Susan van de Ven, susanvandeven5@gmail.com, 07905325574

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