Not just another year, but another Century is about to pass. I am lucky to have been born in the second half of this century, so I did not experience the horrors of the two world wars and the inter-war depression. Nor, as a woman, did I have to struggle for my right to vote, to work and to study for a degree. We have achieved much for the rights and well-being of people in this country over the last century. I hope we will be able to build on this in the next century to secure our peace and prosperity and to help other nations in the world achieve peace, prosperity and respect for human rights. I hope that you will all have a Happy Christmas and that you will enjoy the celebrations as we welcome in the new century.

I have received mixed news from Stagecoach/Cambus on our local bus services. They are unable to extend the 8.59 which starts at the Black Horse, Swaffham Bulbeck, into a full service starting in Newmarket or Burwell. They would only be able to do this by using an additional vehicle and they will not do this unless we can show that usage would increase significantly. Please write to me if you would use a service from Reach or Swaffham Prior which arrived in Cambridge at about 9.30 am.

I received complaints that bus drivers were not always stopping where there was no bus stop, even when they were requested to stop. I raised this with Stagecoach/Cambus, who confirmed that buses in rural areas should stop on request, even where there is no bus stop, as long as it is not a dangerous place to stop. This can help if you live on a bus route but some way from a bus stop. If you experience any problems with buses not stopping when requested, please let me know.

We have started the Best Value reviews that the government requires us to do. This requires us to look at each of the services that we provide and test whether we are providing them as efficiently as possible. This will be a good opportunity to make sure that our services are of a high standard and provided at a reasonable cost. And its not just an internal review, we will be consulting with local residents to see what you think of the service provided.