Agenda

To approve the minutes of the meetings held on 20 & 27 November 2025.

Appendix T(b) to the report contains exempt information during which the public is likely to be excluded from the meeting subject to determination by Full Council following consideration of a public interest test. This exclusion would be made under paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

Note the final recommendation will be presented following a meeting of the Employment Committee prior to the Full Council meeting.

1              City of sanctuary 

This council asserts that it wishes Cambridge to be a city of sanctuary in both name and deed. 

This council asserts that this aspiration is shared by its residents, including particularly those who have become Cambridge residents by choice after becoming refugees. 

This council wishes to re-affirm its commitment to be a city of sanctuary and take concrete steps to ensure that it plays no part in directly or indirectly financing the warfare and war crimes that force innocent people to flee for their lives. 

2              Pension scheme divestment 

The council notes with concern that, despite passing a divestment motion and several questions asked by councillors, it has been unable to provide residents, employees and councillors with clear information on whether any of the pension contributions it pays from employees’ salaries and council tax are invested in ways that directly finance aggressive acts of war and war crimes. This undermines the credibility of Cambridge’s claim to be a city of sanctuary. 

This council resolves to write to all other local authorities in their current and expected pension pool to request them to vote for this information to be obtained, circulated and a divestment plan put in place at the earliest possible date. 

The council notes that the current pension pool is ACCESS and that this will join the BTCPP pension pool and accordingly proposes to write to members of both as well as the managers and trustees of the pension funds. 

3              Barclays Bank 

The council reaffirms its commitment to withdraw its accounts from Barclays Bank plc at the earliest date that the contract can be terminated without penalty and find a more ethical banking partner. This is on the grounds that this bank has loaned over £2 billion to companies providing arms to Israel alone. 

4              Flag policy 

The council commits to reviewing its flag protocol at the next Civic Affairs & Audit meeting and including the flag of the newly recognised state of Palestine in the list of national flags to be flown on appropriate occasions. It also commits to illuminating the Guildhall in the colours of the Palestinian flag on 28 November, the UN’s International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. 

This Council notes: 

1.         That neighbourhood shopping areas across Cambridge are facing dramatic business rates increases from April 2026, with Valuation Office Agency (VOA) data showing particularly severe impacts in areas outside the city centre including Milton Road (25% increases), Chesterton Road (43-46%), Cherry Hinton High Street (19-25%), Queen Edith's, and Arbury (approximately 20%). 

2.         That business rates are a nationally controlled tax, the proceeds of which are controlled by central government, with local councils only collecting them on Government's behalf and receiving a small incentive for increases in the total raised in their areas. 

3.         That these increases coincide with the removal of 40% Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) relief affecting 230,000 small firms across England, meaning actual bills for neighbourhood shops will increase by several hundred percent over the next three years despite so-called 'transitional protections'. 

4.         That the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has warned of 'three years of business rates misery' with an average 52% hike in bills for small businesses such as cafés, shops and hairdressers, describing this as a 'tax timebomb' that threatens high streets and the jobs and services they provide. 

5.         That the Government has raised new funds from a high-value multiplier which it has the power to use to support retail, hospitality and leisure sectors but has chosen not to, leaving most of the high street without adequate support. 

6.         That the VOA operates geographical 'valuation schemes' grouping streets together, with neighbourhood shopping areas serving less affluent communities systematically facing higher increases than city centre areas. 

7.         That businesses in these neighbourhood areas provide essential local services, affordable goods, and employment to Cambridge's less affluent communities. 

This Council believes: 

8.         That forcing neighbourhood shops to raise prices or close makes the cost of living crisis worse for families across Cambridge who can least afford it. 

9.         That viable local shopping areas are essential for community cohesion and supporting residents who cannot easily travel to city centre retail. 

10.     That there is no rational justification for neighbourhood shopping areas serving deprived communities to face massive increases of 20-46%. 

11.     That the Government has raised new revenue from high-value properties which could be used to support small businesses but has chosen to provide only limited relief to pubs and music venues while leaving most of the high street without adequate support. 

12.     That the removal of meaningful RHL relief, combined with aggressive revaluation, threatens the survival of neighbourhood shops across Cambridge. 

13.     That the Government's transitional protections are wholly inadequate - allowing bills to increase by £800 per year or 15-25% over three years amounts to managed decline of our local high streets. 

14.     That businesses facing these increases will be forced to raise prices (increasing the cost of living for residents across Cambridge who can least afford it), reduce services, or close entirely. 

15.     That Labour's handling of business rates reform has been chaotic and poorly communicated, with the Government's own calculator withdrawn after providing incorrect figures, leaving businesses unable to plan  ...  view the full agenda text for item 9b

This Council notes: 

• The Cambridgeshire Holiday Voucher Scheme was championed by Labour and introduced in 2023 by the Joint Administration at Cambridgeshire County Council.  

• The scheme provides over 20,000 thousand school-aged children with access to nutritious meals during school holidays. 

• The scheme makes a very real and practical difference to struggling families — the equivalent of £15 per week per child during the 12 weeks of school holidays for the worst-off households in our county. 

• The Liberal Democrat administration at Cambridgeshire County Council proposed and voted through a County Council budget for 2026-27 that scraps this vital lifeline for vulnerable children and their families from September 2026. 

• The cuts came just a month after the UK government confirmed it was increasing direct funding to Cambridgeshire County Council by 28.8%. 

• The cuts are in marked contrast to the food justice work being supported by Cambridge City Council, which includes support for holiday activity and lunch clubs across the city. 

• The Liberal Democrat County Councillors sided with Conservative and Reform UK councillors to vote down the Labour group’s fully costed amendment, which would have ensured vulnerable families received this vital support until 2029. 

This council resolves to:  

• Condemn the decision by Cambridgeshire County Council to cut the holiday vouchers scheme and call on the County Council to support Labour’s proposal to keep the scheme. 

• Thank the many voluntary and community groups who work alongside Cambridge City Council for food justice in Cambridge. 

This Council calls on Liberal Democrat-controlled Cambridgeshire County Council, who are in charge of pothole repairs, to take the urgent measures needed to reduce the current death traps Cambridge City residents face daily and to outline how this will be done. 

This Council notes: 

According to the County Council’s own figures, there are currently 5600 potholes needing repair^[i]. They state that they are fixing over 1000 per week. This would mean we should expect the residents of Cambridge to see an end to the current holes in 6 weeks’ time. 

A survey by go.compare found that Cambridgeshire has the highest number of potholes reported in England and Wales: 22 potholes per mile of road.  

The Labour Government is investing £188m in road repairs and resurfacing in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough over the next four years. 

This Council resolves: 

That the Leader of Cambridge City Council should write to the Leader of Cambridgeshire County Council to highlight this Council’s serious concerns for our residents’ health and safety when using our roads. 

To call on Cambridge’s MPs to write to the Leader of the Liberal Democrat-controlled Cambridgeshire County Council to highlight the concerns of our residents. 

The Council asks that those City Councillors who also sit on the County Council, representing Queen Ediths and Abbey Wards, ensure that action is taken to prevent the roads becoming even more of a death trap for users. 

^[i] https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/news/more-highways-officers-for-pothole-season