Greater Cambridge City Deal signed
20 Jun 2014 03:38 PM
A deal that could see a
£1 billion investment in the Greater Cambridge area is signed by central
government and local representatives.
The deal was signed by
representatives from central government, council leaders, businesses and the
University of Cambridge on Thursday 19 June.
The signing is the latest step
in securing potentially hundreds of millions of pounds of extra money that will
be invested in improving transport and housing in the Cambridge and South
Cambridgeshire area.
Read the Greater Cambridge City
Deal document.
The game changing deal was
announced by the Chancellor
of the Exchequer in his budget speech this year and follows intensive
negotiation with Cambridge City Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council,
Cambridgeshire County Council, The University of Cambridge and the Greater
Cambridge Greater Peterborough Enterprise Partnership.
The deal will secure hundreds of
millions of pounds of additional funding for investment in transport
infrastructure to support high quality economic and housing growth over the
coming decades. According to local business leaders one of the main barriers to
economic success is lack of housing or transport measures. The first £100
million of funding will be made available in the 5 years from April 2015.
Transport improvements as a result of the deal will start to be seen within the
first year of this period.
If Greater Cambridge is
successful in proving these investments drive economic growth, another
£200 million will be available from April 2020 onwards and a final
£200 million from April 2025 onwards. Local partners will invest a
further £500 million so that around £1 billion will be spent on
supporting the delivery of vital infrastructure necessary to provide good
quality and sustainable growth for the area for decades to
come.
The deal will accelerate
delivery of 33,480 planned homes and enable the delivery of an extra 1,000 new
homes – creating more homes for families across the region and allowing
people to live and be able to afford homes within a reasonable commuting
distance.
The deal will also help local
young people develop the skills they need to take advantage of these new
opportunities: the City Deal will deliver over 400 new apprenticeships for
young people and create new teams to help increase apprenticeships by acting as
brokers between training providers and businesses, as well as supporting the
guidance that is given in schools and colleges to encourage young people to
take up vocational careers.
The partners have come together,
crossing political and geographical divides, with government to deliver this
innovative deal to secure the economic success of Cambridgeshire and the
communities they serve.
The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP,
Minister for Cities signed the deal in Cambridge at high-tech company
Featurespace. The signing also included the leaders from all 3 councils;
Councillor Steve Count of Cambridgeshire County Council, Councillor Lewis
Herbert of Cambridge City Council and Councillor Ray Manning of South
Cambridgeshire District Council. As well as representatives from the local
enterprise partnerships (LEP) and University, Julian Huppert MP and Andrew
Lansley MP also attended.
Greg Clark
said:
Cambridge is one of
Britain’s most successful cities and the government is backing that
success. The Greater Cambridge City Deal is a massive £1 billion boost to
the local economy, making sure Cambridge has the transport, housing and skills
to continue its phenomenal success.
In addition to funding for
transport, the deal would see the 3 councils (Cambridge City, South
Cambridgeshire District and Cambridgeshire County Council) pooling some of
their own separate funding and powers, and working even more closely than now.
New ways of making decisions on transport strategy and planning will also be
introduced potentially through what is termed a Combined Authority. This will
see the 3 councils working even more closely together to allow for the creation
of a single strategic vision for the future of the area covered by Cambridge
City and South Cambridgeshire. This requires a legislative change enacted by
Parliament to allow the partners to create a combined authority to plan and
deliver new housing and transport on a genuinely joined up
basis.
Councillor Steve Count, Leader
of Cambridgeshire County Council, said:
This is a real game changing
deal for Greater Cambridge and the surrounding county. It will see a step
change in transport infrastructure, create jobs and boost the local economy.
The success of this will also be felt outside the Cambridge area so all our
communities benefit.
Councillor Lewis Herbert, Leader
of Cambridge City Council, said:
We cannot risk transport in
Cambridge grinding to a standstill given the damage that would cause to the
lives of local people, and to the firms behind our growing local economy.
Signing this deal signals our intention as the new administration at the City
Council to play our full part in joint work by the 3 councils to unlock
housing, transport and skills investment and improve the quality of life for
everyone in and around Cambridge.
Councillor Ray Manning, Leader
of South Cambridgeshire District Council, said:
The deal marks a new era for the
area. It will unlock millions of pounds of funding to help us tackle the
transport problems we face. This is the key factor to ensuring our economy
continues to thrive and even more new jobs can be created. Signing the deal
also marks the start of further hard graft with us and our partners. We will
now be developing transport schemes which can both be delivered quickly and
which will see benefits for our residents and businesses straight
away.
Mark Reeve, Chairman of the
Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Enterprise Partnership,
said:
Improved transport
infrastructure and increased housing supply are vital to ensure future business
growth. Signing the City Deal means we can start to deliver real benefits for
the local area, providing the support it needs to enable economic growth both
now and in the future. This is a great start, but from
a LEP perspective we continue to work hard to ensure that our
Strategic Economic Plan is as advantageous for the whole of our
area.
Sir Leszek Borysiewicz,
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, said:
This is great news for
Cambridge. We look forward to working with our partners to deliver housing and
transport improvements that will help us to innovate and sustain economic
growth, while protecting the features that make Cambridge such an attractive
place to work, study and live.