MAYOR ELECTION: ‘No regrets at all’ for Mayor Palmer as he hails ‘extraordinary’ achievements

In May 2017 James Palmer was elected as the first metro mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough with unprecedented power over transport and housing for the county.

The former Conservative leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council became head of the newly formed Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, a public body set up as part of a devolution deal between the Government and local councils which mirrors similar structures in places such as Greater Manchester, Liverpool and the West Midlands.

The past three-and-a-half years have seen works begin on a new Peterborough university, thousands of affordable homes receive approval, a restructure of adult education, major road schemes get off the ground and controversy over the high turnover of senior staff (not to mention a well publicised payoff).

So, does Mayor Palmer regret anything since taking over with a promise to spread the wealth in the south further north.

“I regret Tottenham haven’t won a trophy since 2008!” he jokes during an interview with the Peterborough Telegraph. “No, I don’t generally. If I look back and what I would have done differently, it’s been an absolutely incredible three-and-a-half years. It’s been full on.

“I think the combined authority is in a very strong place and I don’t regret anything about it at all.

“If you look at the devolution deal it was a 30 year deal and we’ve achieved 72 per cent delivery of that deal in the first three-and-a-half years which I’m very, very proud of.”

Although reluctant to admit any failings, the list of “achievements” rolls off the tongue.

“I’m proud of the achievement of setting up a brand new authority, absorbing the LEP (local enterprise partnership, now the business board) into that, while our delivery for businesses over the past 12 to 18 months has been significant.

“On the major projects, to go from a standing start to spades in the ground in Peterborough on the university is extraordinary. I’m very, very proud of that, and to bring forward a university in Peterborough which will be unique in the UK.

“I’m very proud of the £100k homes project - the first ones of those have already been sold and the occupiers will be in before Christmas. To come up with a brand new policy for social housing that allows people to afford to live in freehold homes is something that I haven’t seen anywhere else in the country and I hope will become national policy.”

Mayor Palmer also highlights the kickstarting of the £32 million project for a new road and bridge over the King’s Dyke Level Crossing as another sign of delivery.

Despite this, a man not shy in trumpeting the combined authority’s record has come in for his share of criticism, something which he expects in his role.

“It’s been said the mayors are the most scrutinised politicians in the whole country and I’m quite happy to stand up to that scrutiny and defend my record where necessary,” the mayor states.

Among the criticisms are the high turnover of senior staff, including having six chief financial officers in the first two years.

There was also intense scrutiny of the decision to give former chief executive Martin Whiteley a payoff of £94,500, not to mention revelations that the authority was costing £7.6 million a year despite the mayor’s promise he could run it on an annual budget of £850,000.

Typically robust in his response, Mayor Palmer believes the criticism has been “unfair,” stating that the combined authority is the “leanest” mayoral body in the country with costs only rising due to taking on the LEP.

“We started on day one with me and four people in a room,” he said. “To grow out of that and deliver what we have delivered in three-and-a-half years is testament to the staff and the quality of them.

“I get frustrated by some of the reporting which doesn’t take into account some of what we achieved or that we brought a entire organisation into the wing of the combined authority.”

He added for good measure: “We have an extraordinarily lean structure,” which is “delivering over and above our expectations”.

And while there is a feeling among many local politicians and residents that the combined authority is just another wasteful tier of governance, Mayor Palmer is adamant it provides value for money while praising its “exceptional” relationship with Peterborough City Council which he said has seen the city “benefit significantly”.

“I think the combined authority has been a tremendous success, but nowhere more so than in Peterborough,” he stated.

“The reason the combined authority exists is because the old structure didn’t deliver things over many, many years.

“If the old system was working you’d perhaps a Peterborough university 25 years ago, but you didn’t. Adult education would have perhaps been repurposed, but it wasn’t. We would have had King’s Dyke, but we haven’t.

“There are things a combined authority can do which are above and beyond what the standard council system has been able to provide for the people of Cambridgeshire.”

As for the opinion among many that he is a dominant personality who perhaps ignores the advice of others, the mayor replies: “I’m fiercely proud of my county. I’m also somebody who has felt the frustration that the general public feel because I’m one of them, because I’ve seen it over the years and the way my county has been passed over for investment.

“So I am very driven to achieve for Cambridgeshire and to solve some of the problems which have been here for many generations and to make sure we get the best deal we can possibly get at all times.

“I make absolutely no apology for that.

“However, I am also very much somebody who knows that I don’t know everything and I’m at the will of listening to and being advised on the best possible solutions to deliver.

“I think I am a strong character and I think I am the right character for this job. You have to be strong, you have to be Teflon - criticism comes at you from all angles.”

While other mayors such as Andy Burnham are well-known politicians, Mayor Palmer lacks recognition on the national stage, not that he apologises for this.

“I have no crave or desire to be nationally known or make a fool of myself, like one mayor in particular has done recently in order to make a silly point,” he said.

“I have no interest like others may do in moving into Parliament. I’m a local politician, I’m a local mayor and that’s where my passion is.”

The name of the mayor making the “silly point” is not revealed despite some probing.

As for the next four years if he is re-elected in May, the aim is to progress current projects including expanding the campus of the new Peterborough university, bringing £100,000 homes into Peterborough and potentially linking a new metro system for the south of the county into Peterborough.

“There’s an enormous amount of work that we’ve started that I want to continue on.”