The County Councillor

Cambridgeshire County Council

Shire Hall

Castle Hill

Cambs. CB3 OAP

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What is the County Council responsible for?

Cambridgeshire County Council, the first tier of our local authorities, has 69 elected councillors, each representing about 7000 people.

It is not always altogether easy for residents to differentiate between the exact roles of the County Council and of the District Councils in the delivery of services. For instance:

- In respect of planning permissions, the County Council gives planning permission for minerals, waste and applications for schools, while District Councils decide on other planning applications and are also responsible for insuring that conditions attached to approved planning applications in their Districts are met.

- As far as planning for developments is concerned, the County Council is responsible for setting out policies for development in Cambridgeshire (the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Structure Plan) while District Councils use this plan as their guide in designing their own Local Development Frameworks policies, such as Northstowe's in the South Cambridgeshire District. The County Council in turn monitors the way the planned local developments meet the Structure Plan in the area.

- When it comes to roads, streets and transport, it is the County Council that is in charge of roadworks, traffic signals, bridges, road safety, bus timetable and information as well as Park and Rides, while District Councils are in charge of abandoned vehicles, concessionary bus fares, public rights of way, roads and paths, street care and cleaning in their respective districts. The Council Council sets out its Transport strategy for Cambridgeshire, bidding for money from the Government, defining the works needed to realise its Local Transport Plan: the Guidedbusway under construction is one of the County Council's Transport objectives.

Consult Cambridgeshire County Council website: http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/

The County Council is structured under three Offices:

· The office of Corporate services and Chief Executive’s Department, in charge of finance, property, human resources and business support

· The Office of Environment and Community Services, in charge of environment, customer care, care for older people, highways and libraries

· The Office for Children and Young People’s Services, in charge of learning and well being, co-ordinated development and planning of services, services and support for children and young people provided in their own area.

What is the role of a County Councillor?

A County Councillor’ has a wide range of duties to provide services across the county such as schools and services for the vulnerable members of society and to improve the quality of life of the division’s residents.

The main role of a county councillor is to represent the people living in the division and to communicate to them council policy and decisions affecting them. It also involves

· contributing to decision making in full council

· carrying out quasi judicial regulatory duties on special committees such as planning and licensing,

· being member of partnership boards and panels

· overviewing council’s activities and quality

· scrutinising external agencies

· working in partnership with local voluntary organisations and community organisations.

Source: http://www.lga.gov.uk/home.asp

Longstanton County Councillor

County Councillor Shona Johnstone

Councillor Shona Johnstone (Conservative) represents the parishes of Longstanton, Over and Willingham.

Address:

Longstanton Annual Parish Meeting : 22 April 2008 : Report

Much of the past twelve months has been spent on Northstowe related issues. The planning application was finally submitted just before Christmas, but I spent a considerable amount of time over the summer working with English Partnerships and Horizons to develop a coherent approach to the project within central government. This is finally happening and the next major task is to set up a local group to ensure that Northstowe is delivered in a way that brings the best outcome for residents of Longstanton. The best way to provide maximum protection for Longstanton – and indeed my other villages – is to ensure that Northstowe is successful in its own right. To that end, I have met with the Principal of Swavesey Village College on a number of occasions to discuss the provision of secondary education in Northstowe.

Problems of rat running through Longstanton to beat the traffic on the interim bypass came to a head earlier this year and I am pleased to say that finally agreement has been reached with the respective landowners and work on the full bypass is expected to start within the next few weeks.

The County Council refreshed its priorities towards the end of last year, partly in response to the growth agenda (Northstowe is just part, albeit a major element of the growth taking place in the Cambridge sum region) and partly through the development of a county wide sustainable development strategy by the Local Area Agreement Board, Cambridgeshire Together. This Board, led by the county council, includes representatives from the district councils, the primary care trust, the police and the business and voluntary sectors and will become increasingly important in delivering services to Cambridgeshire residents.

Budget constraints continue to make delivering high quality services extremely difficult. This year the average grant settlement for shire counties was 5.7% - the grant for Cambridgeshire was just 2%, meaning that more money has to be raised locally through the council tax.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the parish council for the courteous way in which they have put up with my absences or late arrivals. It has been a privilege to represent Longstanton for the past three years and I look forward to continuing in that role for the next twelve months.

Councillor Johnstone sits on the following committees:
Cambridgeshire Together (Local Area Agreement Board )
Local Councils Liaison Committee
Local Strategic Partnerships - South Cambs
Policy, Resources and Performance Policy Development Group
Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE)
Sustainable Growth Policy Development Group