Latest news with #NikJohnson
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Drastic' action needed to save £1 bus fares
A mayor who pledged to retain a discounted bus scheme warned it was in danger of being lost unless "something drastic" was done. The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority's (CPCA) Tiger bus pass allows people under 25 to travel for £1 and has been used on more than a million journeys. It was introduced by former Labour mayor Nik Johnson, with his Conservative successor Paul Bristow promising it would stay in a BBC interview last month. A recommendation on how to continue funding it beyond the end of the year was not agreed by the CPCA board and will be discussed again at a transport meeting on 25 June. Chris Boden, leader of the Conservative-led Fenland District Council, had argued the council should not continue its local bus fare cap beyond December, when it is currently due to end, and instead fund the Tiger pass. Maintaining the Tiger pass once the national £3 bus fare cap had also ceased in December could mean the CPCA would have to reimburse bus operators to the tune of £473,000 a month, and £6.2m a year, a report to the board stated. "If we don't take some quite drastic action, which involves a large amount of money being shifted around in the budget, then the Tiger pass will stop," he warned. He argued the Tiger pass must be continued to build up passenger numbers but would otherwise run out of funding in the autumn. The measure could run until March, he said, when a new budget and proposal would be put forward. "We have an opportunity here with £1.8m in the budget for the fare cap coming on December 31," he said. "If that money were utilised towards the continuation of the existing Tiger pass to March 31, that would be a very significant part of the funding needed for that." Speaking in support of the proposal, Bristow said: "We are in danger of losing the Tiger pass if we don't do something drastic. "What people want is continuity and security." Lucy Nethsingha, leader of the Liberal Democrat-controlled Cambridgeshire County Council, said she thought the Tiger pass was a "priority" but would rather everyone had the correct figures before making a decision. Anna Bailey, leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council - led by the Tories - supported the recommendation and said the bus fare cap was the "wrong choice" when the Tiger pass was unfunded. Cambridge City Labour councillor Anna Smith, who was deputy mayor when the Tiger pass was introduced, suggested looking beyond the transport budget to find money for the bus pass. The Tiger bus pass and bus fare cap are due to be discussed at a transport meeting on 25 June before being brought back to the board in July. Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Mayor fights to keep Fenland town's bus route £1 Tiger bus pass staying, says new mayor CPCA
BBC News
05-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
'Drastic' action needed to save Cambridgeshire £1 Tiger bus pass
A mayor who pledged to retain a discounted bus scheme warned it was in danger of being lost unless "something drastic" was Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority's (CPCA) Tiger bus pass allows people under 25 to travel for £1 and has been used on more than a million was introduced by former Labour mayor Nik Johnson, with his Conservative successor Paul Bristow promising it would stay in a BBC interview last month.A recommendation on how to continue funding it beyond the end of the year was not agreed by the CPCA board and will be discussed again at a transport meeting on 25 June. Chris Boden, leader of the Conservative-led Fenland District Council, had argued the council should not continue its local bus fare cap beyond December, when it is currently due to end, and instead fund the Tiger the Tiger pass once the national £3 bus fare cap had also ceased in December could mean the CPCA would have to reimburse bus operators to the tune of £473,000 a month, and £6.2m a year, a report to the board stated."If we don't take some quite drastic action, which involves a large amount of money being shifted around in the budget, then the Tiger pass will stop," he argued the Tiger pass must be continued to build up passenger numbers but would otherwise run out of funding in the measure could run until March, he said, when a new budget and proposal would be put forward. "We have an opportunity here with £1.8m in the budget for the fare cap coming on December 31," he said."If that money were utilised towards the continuation of the existing Tiger pass to March 31, that would be a very significant part of the funding needed for that."Speaking in support of the proposal, Bristow said: "We are in danger of losing the Tiger pass if we don't do something drastic."What people want is continuity and security."Lucy Nethsingha, leader of the Liberal Democrat-controlled Cambridgeshire County Council, said she thought the Tiger pass was a "priority" but would rather everyone had the correct figures before making a Bailey, leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council - led by the Tories - supported the recommendation and said the bus fare cap was the "wrong choice" when the Tiger pass was City Labour councillor Anna Smith, who was deputy mayor when the Tiger pass was introduced, suggested looking beyond the transport budget to find money for the bus Tiger bus pass and bus fare cap are due to be discussed at a transport meeting on 25 June before being brought back to the board in July. Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
12-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
£1 bus pass, staying says Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayor
The new mayor for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough says he plans to keep the Tiger bus pass - used on over one million journeys - allows children and young people under the age of 25 to travel for £1 per Bristow, who won the area's mayoral election for the Conservatives, made the promise in an interview with the BBC's Politics East programme. He also said he would proceed with the bus franchising agreement signed by the previous mayor, Labour's Nik Johnson. But he said he would not increase the council tax precept, which currently subsidises some bus services and fares. The Tiger pass was one of the previous mayor's 'proudest achievements'.Over 40,000 people have applied for says he also plans to "make bus franchising work" after the paperwork was signed in February. Franchising will see bus services in the area brought under the control of the combined authority. They will control routes and fares, with bus operators invited to run the buses are not his only plans for transport in Cambridgeshire. He also says duelling roads like the A10 and the A47 is among his top priorities. He also wants to explore options for light rail. "Cambridge is already congested," he said. "I think it is a solution that will get Cambridge and Peterborough moving."Bristow has previously said he thinks a light rail service between Cambourne and Cambridge could be up and running before East-West rail. BBC Politics East will be broadcast on Sunday 12 January at 10:00 GMT on BBC One in the East of England, and will be available after broadcast on BBC iPlayer. Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
ITV News
02-05-2025
- Politics
- ITV News
Conservative Paul Bristow wins Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral election from Labour
The Conservatives have claimed victory in the race to become mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, with ex-MP Paul Bristow winning the position from Labour. The former member for Peterborough won 28.36% of the vote, beating Reform's Ryan Coogan 23.37 % in second place. He replaces Labour's Dr Nik Johnson, who became mayor in 2021 but stepped down for this election. The four other candidates were Cambridgeshire County councillor Lorna Dupre for the Liberal Democrats, Cambridge City councillor Anna Smith for Labour, former construction company director Bob Ensch for the Green Party, and Reform UK's Ryan Coogan, a businessman and former local councillor. Mr Coogan is also standing in the elections for Cambridgeshire County Council and East Cambridgeshire Council. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said earlier on Thursday he would be disappointed if Labour did not win the mayoral election. What does a mayor do? The Combined Authority Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough was first elected in 2017, with Conservative James Palmer holding the post until 2021 when he was defeated by Dr Nik Johnson. Combined authority mayors have powers over areas like transport, skills and planning across the whole of their region, devolved from Westminster. More than half a million people were eligible to vote and the winner will have control of a multi-million pound budget to promote economic growth. There were six mayoral elections across the UK on Thursday, with voters in Doncaster, North Tyneside, the West of England, Hull and East Yorkshire, and the newly created seat of Greater Lincolnshire having their say. What happened in the last round of mayoral elections? This is the first time the mayor has been elected by the first-past-the-post electoral system which is used to elect MPs, in which the candidate with the most votes wins. Previously, a form of proportional representation called the single transferrable vote was used, meaning voters number the candidates on their ballot paper with their favourite as number one. A candidate had to win a majority of first and second preference choices to become the mayor. In 2021, the Conservatives won 40.5% of the votes in the first round of voting with Labour on 32.8% and the Liberal Democrats on 26.7%. The second preference votes of the third-place Liberal Democrat candidate were then re-distributed, meaning Labour won 51.3% of the votes compared to 48.7% for the Conservative candidate. Why are there no local elections in Norfolk, Suffolk or Essex? Local elections in all three counties have been suspended until 2026 due to plans to introduce a joint mayor for Norfolk and Suffolk and a single mayor for Essex - part of the government's plans for greater devolution. County, district, borough and city councils would be merged into single unitary authorities overseen by a directly elected mayor. In Norfolk, Suffolk and most of Essex, each area is currently served by two councils - services such as education, social services and highways are provided by the county council while district, city or borough councils look after areas including housing, planning and rubbish collections. A unitary council provides all local services, as is already the case in Southend in Essex and Peterborough in Cambridgeshire. However, it has not been decided how the local government map will be re-drawn - counties could be divided into smaller units and district councils merged, or whole counties could remain and the districts scrapped. The deadline for proposals is September.
BBC News
02-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral race is under way
The counting of ballot papers is due to start on Friday following Thursday's local council and mayoral elections in a county. Cambridgeshire County Council will elect 61 new councillors through the vote, as well as the new mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. The verification process, which checks that the number of ballot papers counted corresponds with those issued, took place overnight after the polling stations closed at 22:00 BST on Thursday. The counting of the ballot papers by candidate and party will get under way at about 09:00 BST on Friday across six counting centres in the county. The counting of ballots to elect the mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough will take place six counting centres in Peterborough, Cambridge, south Cambridgeshire, east Cambridgeshire, Fenland and Huntingdonshire will count the ballot papers from those districts. The figures will then be fed to the returning officer in east Cambridgeshire, who will announce the result. This year's mayoral election is using the first-past-the-post voting system, but in 2017 and 2021 the election used the supplementary system where voters got a second resulted in Labour's Nik Johnson winning the seat in 2021, even though the Conservative candidate James Palmer received more votes in the first round. The returning officer is expected to announce the new mayor in the early afternoon on Friday. The attention will then turn to the county council results. Cambridgeshire has a two-tier system of local government. The job of administering elections falls to the lower-tier district councils, even though the elections were for the upper-tier county council seats. The five areas of Cambridgeshire - Cambridge city, east Cambridgeshire, Fenland, Huntingdonshire and south Cambridgeshire - will count their share of the county council seats. In 2021 the results of the Cambridgeshire County Council elections were:Conservatives: 28Liberal Democrats: 20Labour: 9Independents: 4Following that election a joint administration between Labour, Liberal Democrats and Independents was formed. The position has strengthened since then, due to by-elections and defections and the Liberal Democrats have since become the largest party. The political make-up at the time of the election was:Liberal Democrats: 23Conservatives: 21Labour: 10Independents: 7If after the elections no one party has 31 seats then discussions may take place between like-minded parties to form a joint administration. Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
