The Oxford to Cambridge Pan-Regional Partnership (OCPRP) has formally closed after the government announced it would no longer provide funding.
A letter sent to the partnership in March confirmed no further financial support, citing the government’s intention to back Mayors “in collaborating at pan-regional level”.
Karen Clarke, interim managing director of the OCPRP, described the news as “disappointing, but not unexpected”.
What was the Pan-Regional Partnership?
The organisation emerged in 2022 as a successor to the Oxford-Cambridge Arc, a former government initiative aiming to “build a better economic, social and environmental future” for the area between Oxford, Milton Keynes, and Cambridge.
The original Arc ambitions included building one million new homes across the region by 2050, alongside plans for an Oxford to Cambridge expressway — which was later dropped. Work also focused on developing a ‘spatial framework’ to coordinate infrastructure and new developments across the Arc.
However, the project faced opposition and uncertainty. In 2022, South Cambridgeshire District Council leader Councillor Bridget Smith said it had been implied to her the Arc had effectively been “flushed away”.
That same year, the Arc evolved into the Oxford to Cambridge Pan-Regional Partnership, a body led by local councils and organisations rather than central government.
This new partnership prioritised environmental and economic aims rather than housing growth. Its mission statement declared:
“Our mission is to secure a future in which our communities prosper from the very best in environmentally sustainable ways of living and working.
We collaborate to accelerate economic opportunities created through the region’s innovation strengths, to achieve significant environmental enhancements and to unlock investment for inclusive, high quality, sustainable development.”
The partnership secured support from councils and organisations across the region and completed environmental projects, developed an international investment prospectus, and created a data observatory. The observatory was designed to provide “a collection of transparent, unbiased, high-quality, and frequently updated economic and environmental evidence and insights,” with the hope it would support business cases, research, and understanding of the region’s data.
What now?
Last month, the partnership confirmed it was closing and transferring some work and assets to the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority and England’s Economic Heartland (EEH).
The Combined Authority has agreed to maintain and host the data observatory for at least two years. Additionally, the partnership transferred £175,000 to the Combined Authority and £50,000 to EEH.
Reflecting on the partnership’s achievements, Karen Clarke said:
“The OCPRP was established in January 2023 and quickly set up strong governance arrangements, appointing a new managing director and chair by the summer 2023.
From then until the end of the funding in March 2025, the partnership has successfully delivered a two-year work programme, which sought to further stimulate the region’s economy in a manner which benefits all communities, is sustainable and environmentally progressive.
Our work focused on activities that could generate benefits by operating at scale, grow the global footprint and develop the regional evidence base.
We are most grateful for the work of our board and the executive team and to the support that we have received from our central government, local authority, business and university partners.”
The partnership’s website will remain online until March 2026 to allow continued public access to its published documents.
Is this the end of the Oxford to Cambridge Arc?
Not quite. While the pan-regional partnership has ended, the Labour government has revived plans for an ‘Oxford to Cambridge Arc’.
In January, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced proposals for an ‘Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor’, which she said could add up to £78 billion to the UK economy. She highlighted the focus on ‘unlocking’ housing, laboratory developments, and improving transport links between the two cities.
Minister for Housing and Planning Matthew Pennycook stated:
“The Oxford-Cambridge region is already home to world-leading universities and globally renowned science and technology firms.
It has the potential to become one of the most innovative and economically dynamic areas in the world, but numerous constraints, from inadequate transport connections to a lack of affordable housing, prevent it from realising its true potential.
This government are determined to do what is necessary to drive sustainable economic growth in the region to the benefit of local communities and national prosperity.”
Lord Patrick Vallance has been named the ‘Oxford-Cambridge Innovation Champion’, tasked with “convening local, national and business leaders to deliver coordinated action that drives investment, pulls in investment and unleashes growth”.
In many ways echoing earlier ambitions, the government’s renewed focus signals a fresh chapter for growth in the Oxford to Cambridge region.
