Richard Taylor

I observed Cambridgeshire’s Police and Crime Panel on the 3rd of February 2016. As a joint committee of the councils in the Cambridgeshire Police’s force area the Police and Crime Panel is open to the public under the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960. As I approached the building where the meeting was to […]

Cllr Ben Shelton, acting chair of Cambridgeshire’s Police and Crime Panel, has rejected a submission I had made for the “community involvement” part of the Police and Crime Panel meeting scheduled for Wednesday 3rd February, 2016. I had wanted to urge the panel to scrutinise decisions made by the Police and Crime Commissioner relating to […]

Cambridge’s major “traffic generators” including retailers, Addenbrooke’s and schools are to present their views on tackling Cambridge’s transport challenges to councillors on the Greater Cambridge City Deal board at private events. The Greater Cambridge City Deal organisation is charged with spending significant sums of public money to tackle housing, transport and educational problems in Cambridge. […]

Since the 6th of August 2014 a right to film, photograph or make an audio recording of proceedings at a local government meeting in the UK has been established in law. In November 2014 Cambridge City Councillors unanimously agreed to update their constitution in light of the new law. Cambridgeshire County Council’s stance on filming […]

The leader of Cambridge City Council, Labour’s Lewis Herbert, has offered to speak to me about the role of “Executive Councillors” in Cambridge. I am writing this article in advance of our discussion; after we’ve spoken I will provide an update below. Role of Executive Councillors Each of the seven councillors who are members of […]

Cambridge Liberal Democrats are the largest opposition party on Cambridge City Council. They have what is in effect a shadow “cabinet” poised to take over the council if they regain control. I thought it would be useful to collate who these people are, and their respective roles: Name Shadow Role Councillor Tim Bick (@cllrtimbick) Leader, […]

New arrangements under which Cambridge City Council’s CCTV is run by Huntingdonshire District Council have left Cambridge City Councillors being told they are unable to direct where Cambridge’s portable cameras are deployed. At Cambridge’s North Area Committee on the 10th of September 2015 councillor Gerri Bird requested one of Cambridge City Council’s redeployable CCTV cameras […]

I have just experienced around twenty four hours of bizarre, unsubstantiated, attacks and slurs on Twitter led by the deputy leader of Cambridge City Council, Labour’s Cllr Carina O’Reilly. Cllr O’Reilly described me as “a hypocrite and a coward, and unethical in how he works – and a mysogynist” and “a tosser” and said “your […]

A bizarre and relentless battle which been simmering in King’s Hedges over the past few years has recently stepped up in intensity. Residents of Alice Bell Close, Gladeside and George Nuttall Close have been breaking into and out of the estate where they live ever since it was built. Now one of the most popular, […]