Mayor marks first year with delivery – and an ambition to go faster

Mayor marks first year with delivery – and an ambition to go faster

Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Paul Bristow has completed his first year in office, and after a year of delivery and ambition-setting, he’s ready to go faster in his next 12 months.  

Working with the Combined Authority Board on big responsibilities including transport, jobs, growth and investment, Paul has made his first focus to do fewer things and do them better to make most impact 

A major milestone was the agreement of the Local Growth Plan. This strategy sets a Mayoral ambition to triple the size of the economy to £97 billion by 2050. Backed by the Combined Authority Board, it identifies six priority sectors crucial to future growth: advanced manufacturing, agri-tech, defence, digital technologies, energy and clean tech and life sciences.  Paired with four Opportunity Zones for focused investment, the LGP is the guide to making this region the fastest-growing economy in the country.  

Some key achievements and milestones over the last 12 months include:  

• Securing the Tiger Pass offering £1 bus travel for under 25s. Funding was due to run out in autumn 2025 and has now been secured through to March 2027, while options for a permanent young person’s pass are worked up.   

• More than five million journeys now recorded using the Tiger pass, with around 81,000 pass applications, making a real difference to young people and families.  

• Reached a funding agreement with Peterborough City Council, subject to final approvals, for free parking after 3pm, Monday to Friday, in four council-owned car parks.  

• Launched Mayor’s Day Out – a scheme which will see 4,000 children across the region benefit from school trips to local heritage sites and attractions in 2026/27, supporting our cultural and historic places and broadening education. 

• After making light rail an election priority, Cambridge Growth Company, in partnership with the Combined Authority, has started a study on options for a new mass rapid transit system for Cambridge to support better journeys and growth. 

• Lifeline rural bus routes including the 31 connecting Ramsey with Peterborough and the 9 running from Cambridge to Littleport have been saved and upgraded.  

• Combined Authority-funded Peterborough Station Quarter, a major transport and regeneration project has advanced to construction.   

• Galvanised cross-party support from council leaders and MPs to call on Government to upgrade the Ely junction rail bottleneck to unlock better train services, freight and economic growth.  

• Pushed other key infrastructure with Government Ministers, including a rail station at Alconbury Weald and Cambridge East – the city’s fourth railway station – as part of East West Rail. The Mayor has also campaigned to Government to keep the A10 dualling between Ely and Cambridge on its roads funding agenda, and to keep active the planning permission to dual the A47  between Wansford and Sutton.   

• Opening of the Combined Authority-funded Green Skills Academy at College of West Anglia in Wisbech and the Green Tech Centre at Peterborough College. In Chatteris, the Combined Authority-funded North Cambridgeshire Training Centre marked its 500th apprentice – all helping people with skills for jobs in the modern economy.  

• Funded new lighting at Peterborough Cathedral to support events and funded repairs to Baits Bite Lock in Cambridge to protect the River Cam, with grants totalling around £800,000 combined.  

• Agreed a Get Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Working plan to help people on out-of-work benefits or who are economically inactive due to long-term sickness into employment.   

• £4.5m funding to help more than 9,400 people in St Neots, Huntingdon and East Cambridgeshire with skills projects in areas deemed a ‘cold spot’ for skills opportunity.  

• Secured £26 million from Government to regenerate brownfield sites.    

• Beginning delivery of the Youth Guarantee Trailblazer – funding for the Combined Authority to help young people into work, further education or training, including the opening of a Youth Hub at Peterborough United giving young people help to find jobs. The Combined Authority also secured funding for a further year to April 2027.  

• Setting out steps towards setting up a Mayoral Development Corporation to regenerate Peterborough, working with the City Council.   

• Local ambition for economic growth has been backed with Government commitments of £800 million to drive growth in the Oxford-Cambridge Corridor. 

• Kicked off a series of public Mayor’s Question Time events, allowing the public to ask questions and challenge the Mayor’s record.   

To drive the plan for economic growth Paul has reformed the Business Board, which was an election promise. Led by Shaun Grady, chair of AstraZeneca UK, it features business leaders from across the region and different industrial sectors, representing £18 billion in combined turnover.  

With ambition and delivery set in the first year, the Combined Authority will now push for Established Mayoral Strategic Authority status and an Integrated Settlement, to give greater powers, more flexible funding, and tools to further fire up growth.   

Paul Bristow said: “A year ago I promised to get this region moving. I’ve set a target to triple the economy, with a plan on how to get there. And we’ve shown that when given the tools and funding, the Combined Authority can deliver for people.  

“From the start, I said that partnership was crucial to getting things done, and in this first year we’ve seen what’s possible when this region works as a team – both across the Combined Authority Board and with our partners locally.  Whether it’s  infrastructure, protecting services or attracting investment, there’s real progress.   

“But while it’s good to take stock, I’m now focused on year two, and getting the powers and funding the Combined Authority needs to turn more of our ambition into reality and help more people become healthier, wealthier and happier.”