About the County Council
Political composition
Cambridgeshire County Council embraces five District Council areas: Fenland, Huntingdonshire, East Cambridgeshire, South Cambridgeshire, and Cambridge. There are 69 County Councillors. The Conservatives control the County Council, with 43 Councillors. The Liberal Democrats are the main oppostion party, with 22 Councillors. Labour has 4 Councillors.
The headquarter offices of Cambridgeshire County Council are at Shire Hall, Castle Hill, Cambridge.
The role of the County Council
The main responsibilities of Cambridgeshire County Council are set out below. They are described in detail at the County Council’s website.
- Archives
- Civil Emergencies
- Education
- Libraries
- Highways and Footways
- Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths
- Rights of Way
- Social Services
- Street Lighting
- Structure Planning
- Trading Standards
- Waste Disposal
Excluded from this are the motorways and major dual carriageway roads (A1, A11, A14) which cross the County. These are the responsibility of the Highways Agency.
Social services
Social services are a particularly complex area of the County Council’s work, embracing a wide range of activities. The following description is extracted from the County Council’s website:
We support children and families. Our services include:
- working with children in need and their families
- giving support to families with particular problems
- advice on caring for children
- finding foster carers for children who cannot live at home
- advice for children leaving care and young homeless people
We deal with cases of neglect and child abuse through our child protection procedures
We support families whose children have disabilities
We support carers and find ways to ease the pressures on them, for example, by arranging short breaks.
We care for older people either by helping them to stay active and independent in their own homes, or by arranging residential or nursing home care if they can no longer manage on their own.
We help people of all ages with physical disabilities to be more independent by providing: equipment or training, community facilities and advice from specialist assessors.
We provide similar help for people who are blind or partially sighted and for deaf people.
We help people with learning disabilities to use community facilities, get respite care so their carers can have a break, and live more independently.
We support people who have mental health problems so that they can live safe and fulfilling lives in the community.
We help people who seriously misuse drugs or alcohol people who are living with HIV or AIDS by providing a confidential service, counselling and emotional support, financial advice and practical advice.
Click here for the website of Cambridgeshire County Council.
