What does a Mayor do? Responsibilities facing the next Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

The next Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough will be granted a range of responsibilities and powers after being elected.

People across the county will be asked to vote for a new Mayor on Thursday, May 1.

The current Mayor, Dr Nik Johnson, announced earlier this year that he would not be standing for re-election.

He said at the time that the decision had been made with “great sadness”, but said it was the “right thing to do” and explained that the health issues he had faced had played a part in his decision making.

Five candidates have decided to stand for Mayor, and they are Paul Bristow (Conservative), Ryan Coogan (Reform UK), Lorna Dupré (Liberal Democrats), Bob Ensch (Green Party), and Anna Smith (Labour and Co-operative Party).

So what exactly does a Mayor do, and what will be the responsibilities facing the next Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough?

The elected Mayor leads the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority.

The Combined Authority was established in 2017 and is the transport authority for the area.

This means it puts together a ‘local transport plan’ which sets out the transport related infrastructure improvements it aims to make in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

The Combined Authority itself says it is responsible for “delivering economic prosperity across the region, particularly in relation to housing, travel, employment skills and environmental improvements”.

Whoever is elected Mayor will oversee a £20million annual budget and also has devolved powers to spend up to £800million on local housing, infrastructure and jobs.

Representatives from the city and district councils in the area, as well as Cambridgeshire County Council, sit on the various committees and the Board, and are part of the decision making process at the Combined Authority.

Some of the examples of the things that have been done under the current Mayor’s leadership include the subsidising of certain bus services, the decision to move forward with bus franchising, and the introduction of the Tiger Bus Pass, which offers £1 bus fares for under 25s.

The Mayor can also ask to make changes to the Mayoral precept, which is added to household council tax bills.

The charge was introduced for the first time in 2023; the tax was increased in 2024 from £12 to £36 for a Band D household, but was frozen for this financial year.

Additionally, under central government devolution plans the next Mayor could also be granted new powers over things like housing, planning, transport, energy, skills, and employment support.

In the English Devolution White Paper published by the government it said Mayors would be given a “statutory role” in governing, managing, planning and developing rail networks, and could take on powers to coordinate their road network.

It also said Mayors could be given new development management powers, which would enable them to call in planning applications “of strategic importance”.

The paper said Mayors could also be able to charge developers a Mayoral Levy to “ensure that new developments come with the necessary associated infrastructure”.

Further potential powers were also announced in the White Paper.