Showcasing government support for the ecosystem

Greater Cambridge is one of a handful of places in the UK which benefits from devolved powers and budgets to stimulate economic growth as part of the devolution package agreed through the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority devolution deal, with the structures in place for further devolution to happen.

Local political leaders here have a strong track record of working in partnership to plan for high levels of growth and are recently united behind a new Local Industrial Strategy for the next decade, which has been co-authored with central Government.

Between 2012 and 2014, Greater Cambridge’s civic, business and academic communities came together to negotiate an innovative “City Deal” with the Government, bringing up to £500m Government funding to the area to address infrastructure challenges. This strategic infrastructure investment programme is being delivered by the Greater Cambridge Partnership.

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Independent Economic Review (CPIER) was published in September 2018 and was swiftly adopted as a mandate for growth by local authorities in November 2018. The CPIER was led by Dame Kate Barker alongside a Commission made up of leading business and economic figures. Research and analysis were provided by the University of Cambridge, which was augmented by consultation with local businesses and communities.

The CPIER was launched by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in October 2018. The CPIER is considered by central Government to be an exceptional approach, particularly the fact that it created an independent and substantiated evidence base which was used as the key foundation for the Local Industrial Strategy.

Collectively implementing the recommendations of the CPIER are:

• The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, led by the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough – one of only nine Metro Mayors in the country with powers and budget for infrastructure, housing, statutory plans, and skills provision.
• The Greater Cambridge Partnership, made up of Cambridgeshire County Council, Cambridge City Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council and representatives from academia and business, responsible for delivering the City Deal through transformative infrastructure investment and other interventions.
• Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council, responsible for supporting and facilitating local economic growth as the statutory local planning authorities and housing authorities.
• The Business Board (formerly the Local Enterprise Partnership) – as formal business representation of the area with direct responsibility for the Local Industrial Strategy and allocating further growth funding from central Government.

Cambridge& represents one element of the delivery of key Recommendation 13 of the CPIER, by delivering an inward investment proposition tailored to the individual needs of the ecosystem's economy, supported by local government organisations.

CPIER
Local Industrial Strategy
Greater Cambridge Partnership Strategies and Objectives
Greater Cambridge City Deal (2014)
Business Board 2019 Growth Prospectus
Cambridge Ahead 2019 Publication

Local Plans:

Local Plan for Cambridge City
Local Plan for South Cambridgeshire
Interim Local Transport Plan for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough