Monday morning and it’s the monthly meeting of the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

At least 10 out of the 14 of us have to be present for any business to be transacted, so with people’s tendency to be unwell or have other meetings that’s always a bit of a nail-biter. The rule is set in Government regulations, so we agree that I should write as Chair to the Combined Authority’s Chief Executive to explain why it’s a problem in the hope that the message will trickle upwards.

We agree to ask a number of questions at the Combined Authority Board meeting on Wednesday morning, including why a Chair of the Combined Authority’s Climate Change Commission hasn’t yet been announced after two months.

The Board on Wednesday will be asked to consider a motion from the leaders of Fenland and East Cambridgeshire councils which would ban the Combined Authority from holding any meetings whatsoever in Cambridge. The reason given for this proposal is traffic congestion and air quality in Cambridge, but the motion doesn’t even mention public transport which is a pretty extraordinary omission in the circumstances. Absolutely everyone on the committee thinks it’s a poor motion with no evidence to support it, and we agree to ask how it can be justified.