Our Business Plan 2019-24

We will support businesses of all sizes, including rural enterprise and farming, to help create new jobs and opportunities near to where people live.

We'll make it easy to do business in South Cambridgeshire by: 

• Delivering support to start-ups and small businesses to help them grow, create new local jobs and deal with the impacts of Brexit
• Creating a new business team to be a single point of contact for business enquiries
• Establishing a specialist single point of contact to support businesses through the planning process
• Helping our village businesses to thrive by working with partners to improve broadband and mobile phone coverage
• Promoting village-based businesses to encourage people to use local shops and food outlets
• Supporting our businesses to be greener - improving energy efficiency and increasing water and waste recycling
• Investing in renewable technologies
• Helping to ensure people's homes are close to their jobs and can be accessed by walking, cycling and using public transport 
• Identifying the skills needed by employers in South Cambridgeshire and helping local people by developing the skills and housing they need

We will build vibrant communities in locations where people have good access to facilities and transport links, so they can genuinely afford to lead a happy and healthy life.

We will do this by:

• Working with developers, parish councils and local people to raise the standards of new homes and communities
• Improving the efficiency of existing Council housing to help us achieve our zero-carbon target
• Doubling the amount of energy-efficient Council homes built each year
• Identifying where to deliver low-cost housing for essential local workers like teachers, nurses, social workers and emergency service staff
• Preventing homelessness and providing support for vulnerable people
• Supporting people to build their own homes
• Working with partners to provide alternatives to private car travel through new and improved walking, cycling and public transport routes

We will create a cleaner, greener and zero-carbon future for our communities.

In recognition of the global climate and health emergency we will develop an action plan to deliver a zero-carbon future for South Cambridgeshire by:

• Reducing how much waste we generate as a community, increasing recycling and reducing recycling contamination
• Assessing the current levels of carbon and committing to an action plan to meet our 2050 zero-carbon pledge
• Generating more green energy in the area and promoting environmentally friendly energy consumption
• Supporting community groups to promote behavioural change and reduce the reliance on fossil fuels
• Helping communities to secure grants to fund green projects
• Installing new air quality monitors so that we can track, maintain and improve air quality
• Making sure our bin lorries are as environmentally friendly as possible
• Installing electric vehicle charging points at Council offices and incentivising taxi operators and drivers to make the move to electric vehicles
• Protecting and enhancing the district's heritage and environment
• Making sure the environment is fully considered in all new major transport routes, including tree planting and habitat enhancement to offset developments
• Tackling fly tipping

We will provide our customers with high-quality services, strive to reduce costs, build on what we are good at to generate our own income and make decisions in a transparent, open and inclusive way.

We'll do this by:  

• Using technology to improve access to Council services for businesses and residents so they track the progress of things they report, pay, and apply for online
• Broadcasting Council meetings online to help people find out more about the decisions we make
• Improving how our staff can work remotely so they can do more for local people
• Implementing new ways of working to ensure we retain and develop our staff to deliver the ambitions of the Council and support our communities
• Being an equal opportunities employer and employer of choice for people with disabilities and ethnic minorities
• Generating 25% of our budget from investments by 2024 which we will reinvest into services for local people
• Funding community and voluntary groups that benefit local people
• Cutting costs and putting the customer at the centre of everything we do to improve customer service