Mayor’s budget approved, backing free parking, local growth and value for money 

Mayor’s budget approved, backing free parking, local growth and value for money 

Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Paul Bristow, has secured approval for his 2026/27 budget, setting out how the Combined Authority will focus its resources on supporting local growth, delivering on key priorities and ensuring value for money. 

The Mayor’s Budget was approved at a meeting of the Combined Authority Board on Wednesday (January 28). 

As pledged when he was elected, the Mayoral Precept, which forms part of council tax bills, will remain at £36 per year for a Band D household.     

His budget includes £1.5m million over two years to support bringing in free parking schemes in Peterborough city centre and Huntingdonshire, working in partnership with Peterborough City Council and Huntingdonshire District Council. The aim is for a targeted, two-year trial to test how free parking can increase footfall, support high streets and help local businesses compete with out-of-town and online retail and leisure.  

The detail of the schemes will be developed and will be subject to further agreement, including the approval of detailed business cases. 

Free parking is part of the Mayor’s wider plans to revitalise and regenerate high streets, attracting more people in to support local businesses, create jobs and strengthen historic centres.  

The budget also confirms continued funding for the Mayor’s Day Out scheme, which supports local schoolchildren to visit museums, heritage sites and cultural attractions across the region, helping schools where trips may otherwise be unaffordable.  

The Mayor’s scheme will see more than 6,000 school children enjoy trips throughout this February and March and the approved funding will enable the scheme to run for the next four years to March 2030. Destinations include Flag Fen, our cathedrals, a dozen museums and the Cambridge Science Centre. The Combined Authority has been working with Cambridgeshire County Council on the 2025/26 pilot scheme.  

Alongside the Mayor’s Budget, the Combined Authority Board approved its Budget and Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP), providing a balanced and affordable funding plan to support delivery of the Authority’s priorities over the coming years.  

The MTFP aligns spending with the Combined Authority’s Corporate Plan and supports investment in transport, infrastructure, skills, homes and business growth, backing the Mayoral ambition to triple the size of the region’s economy by 2050, as set out in the recently launched Local Growth Plan.  

Paul Bristow said: “This budget is about turning my pledges into action. 

“I said I wouldn’t increase the Mayoral Precept, and I haven’t. I also said I wanted to make the role of the Mayor matter to people. That means backing policies that make a real difference on the ground. We need to test how free parking can give our town and city centres a much-needed shot in the arm, driving footfall, supporting jobs and giving people a reason to come back. 

“At the same time, we’re continuing the Mayor’s Day Out because opening young minds to our history, culture and science is one of the best investments we can make in the future of this region.  

“My budget alongside that of the Combined Authority’s gives us a solid, responsible platform to drive the investment this region needs to make our economy the country’s fastest growing outside the capital. That’s real action.” 

Read the Board papers including the 2026-27 budgets here: https://democracy.cambridgeshirepeterborough-ca.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=141&MId=587