Decision details

To provide Members with background information regarding the extensive reforms to the local government framework across England set out in the White Paper on English Devolution published 16 December 2024.

To provide Members with an update on the LGR progress for the Peterborough and Cambridgeshire area.

To consider the proposed letter of submission to the Government by 21 March 2025. This letter has been drafted in conjunction with other authorities in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough following discussions between the Councils Leaders’ and Chief Executives.

The Cabinet has considered the background to the English Devolution White Paper and its implications for residents of the District and Huntingdonshire District Council.

The Cabinet has delegated authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Executive Leader of the Council, to finalise the proposed letter to Government along with other Council Leaders, as the interim submission, to indicate our commitment to work towards achieving a consensus proposal by November 2025. It should be noted, it is the Executive Leader of the Council who will sign this letter.

As set out in the report, it is preferable that Huntingdonshire District Council works in partnership with all other councils across Cambridgeshire & Peterborough to achieve the best possible outcome for our residents.

The Council could decide not to sign the letter attached at Appendix 2, and either send its own letter, a letter with a smaller number of Cambridgeshire councils, or not send a letter at all.

It is considered, based on the request detailed in Appendix 1, that the strength of a combined letter is more likely to carry weight with Government. This is because its shows alignment with the specific request to seek to find consensus or local agreement and is demonstrative of the collaboration in place between councils.

There are limited direct financial implications at this stage.

Across all the existing councils in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough system, extensive partnership working will be essential to inform reliable financial modelling, which is inevitably complicated as it requires both disaggregation of upper tier functions and aggregation of district functions into whatever unitary councils are proposed. It will be necessary to carry out a comprehensive assessment of financially viable future structures for Page 10 of 28 consideration and also assess which configurations of the new unitary authorities present the best value for money to taxpayers.

A significant financial consideration is the level of debt currently held across the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough local government footprint. Any business case proposal and any form of LGR will need to adequately consider and deal with the underlying debt positions.

There are many factors to take into account when thinking about the creation of new, financially sustainable organisations. All councils are struggling with forecast budget gaps in future years due to national pressures being experienced in demand for services and huge uncertainty around future government funding levels.

There will be additional costs associated with the planning, development and implementation of any new structures. There is an expectation (but no guarantee) that the government will provide capacity funding; confirmation of this is pending from Government. We should expect long term that value for money improvements can be achieved through streamlined structures for some service delivery arrangements and rationalised overheads. These potential opportunities will be explored through the options appraisals, alongside the costs of re-organisation.

A further risk is that the government has committed to introducing a multi year settlement in 2026/27 and a complete overhaul of grants and allocation methodologies. It is expected that there will be more weighting applied to distribute funding to areas with the greatest need, in communities with a high level of deprivation, and to authorities that are unable to raise significant funding from council tax rises. This creates significant uncertainty around Cambridgeshire funding streams in the medium-term