Concerns a Cambridge road charge could impact emergency services’ recruitment

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough police and crime commissioner Darryl Preston has raised concerns about recruiting and retaining emergency services workers if a proposed road charge goes ahead.

Speaking in a personal capacity, and not on behalf of the police, Mr Preston warned that people employed by the emergency services often worked shifts that finished in the early hours, and that having to use public transport to get home could be off-putting.

He added that he did not want to see employees in these roles “out of pocket” when Cambridge was already an expensive place to live.

However, Cllr Elisa Meschini, chair of the Greater Cambridge Partnership, explained that no final decision had been made about who would be exempt from the charge.

Mr Preston, who was representing the Conservative Party when he was elected PCC, said: “My personal view is that this will impact our health and emergency services workers. For example, a lot of them will be working shifts that start before 7pm – when the charge is in place – and finish in the early hours in the morning. I understand that we require a far better public transport system but the reality is that at two or three o’clock in the morning, if they have to go back to the Park & Ride or catch a bus, it’s going to be very difficult to fill those posts.

“It’s already difficult to attract people to our emergency services and health workers to Cambridge because of the high cost of living. It also seems like an unfair tax on low-paid workers and will have a detrimental impact on businesses. For these reasons, I am against the charge.”

The Greater Cambridge Partnership has concluded a consultation on whether to levy a charge on all motorised vehicles driving into, out of, or within Cambridge city. The results are expected to be revealed this summer.

Cllr Meschini (Lab, King’s Hedges) said: “Everything that is classed as an emergency vehicle is already by default going to be exempt. Everything else is up for discussion. We’re still looking at that because we have about 25,000 responses to the consultation so it is going to take a while. Also we’re taking the time amongst ourselves to reflect on what we are hearing. Trying to reconcile that information with an actual plan will take a little while.”