All mapped out

Hull City Council has received a top national award in recognition of 'outstanding service delivery' during the floods.
The Government award was in recognition of an interactive digital map on the council's website which showed flooded areas of the city.
The map helped residents, commuters and other road users decide how to negotiate their way around the city.
The award, entitled the 'most creative use of a piece of information technology' award, was jointly given by the Government's Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) and an organisation called Intelligent Addressing (IA), both of which are dedicated to improving local authority services.

Popular councillor will be sadly missed

A former Lord Mayor of Hull and councillor for the Newington and St Andrew's wards died last month.
Honorary Alderman Fred Beedle served as a city councillor for 19 years, from 1983 to 2002, becoming Lord Mayor in 2001.
He sat on several council committees including leisure services and highways and transportation, and was a long-serving non-executive director of Kingston Communications.
"Fred was a popular lad who always had a smile on his face," said Cllr Ken Branson, the chairman of the Riverside Area Committee.
"He was a very good ward councillor and devoted a lot of time to his work in the council while holding down a job as a postman.
He was well liked and respected and he'll be very much missed."

Building work begins

Building work is set to start this month on a multi-million pound development to preserve a wealth of historical information relating to the city.
Hull History Centre (pictured), to be built at the site of Mason Street car park, will provide a new home for the council-run local studies library and city archives as well as the University of Hull archives.
"We're hoping to start construction work in the second week of December, and certainly before Christmas," said Hull University archivist Judy Burg.
"It's an exciting development and, if all goes to schedule, it should open in May 2009."
A joint project by Hull City Council and the University of Hull, the development is funded with the help of a £7.7m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the centre will house collections dating from the year 1299 to the present day.
For more information please visit www.hull.ac.uk/historycentrehull

Shoebox appeal

A charity is appealing for Hull residents to fill shoe boxes with Christmas gifts so they can be shipped abroad for children in need.
Small toys, puzzles, colouring books, stencils, toothbrushes, flannels, and soap can be packed into shoe boxes and donated to Real Aid.
The charity, which funds education and healthcare projects in impoverished parts of Africa and Eastern Europe, will send the boxes to children in these areas to give them Christmas cheer.
Boxes should be taken to the Real Aid charity shop on Newland Avenue by December 13.
"Last year 3,000 shoeboxes were donated by local people containing 30,000 individual items.
We'd love them to donate more this time around," said charity spokesman Colin Raine.
To donate a box or for more information call 01482 880660

Turning dreams into reality

Rehearsals for a production of Grease, which is one of the young people's projects being funded

A panel of more than 50 young people were given the responsibility for deciding how £160,000 would be spent on youth projects across the city.
The panel met at the Quality Hotel Royal to consider bids from more than 90 projects, including IT, music and sport activities as well as request for funding to pay for trips and equipment.
Supported by staff from Hull Youth Development Service, the panel decided to back 87 projects, many of which had been devised by young people's groups across the city.
"It's a way of enabling young people to turn their ideas into reality," says Dean Davis, area manager of the council's Youth Development Service.
"The positive energy and drive young people have shown in bidding for grants and making decisions has been astonishing."
The money, from the Hull Youth Opportunity Fund (YOF) and Youth Capital Funds (YCF), has already benefited more than 4,500 young people across the city over the past 12 months.
For more information visit www.hullcc.gov.uk

For your benefit

More than 6,000 tenants in private-rented accommodation and hundreds of Hull landlords will be affected by a shake-up of the Housing Benefit system.
From next April, the system will change so that individual properties will no longer have their rent value assessed by a rent officer or have Housing Benefit paid direct to landlords.
Instead, a new Local Housing Allowance will be introduced which means rents in Hull will be fixed at a flat rate, and in most cases benefit payments will go to the tenant rather than the landlord.
"The scheme has been tried in other parts of the country over the past four years, including the East Riding, with encouraging results," said Andy Sims, Hull City Council's housing benefits manager.
For more information call 300300.

Could you be a councillor?

Do you want to improve local services, make a difference to the community in which you live and help local people?
If so, have you considered becoming a councillor? Hull City Council is holding two free seminars next month to explain the role of a councillor, including the time commitment involved and the support available.
To become a councillor you need to be at least 18 years old, and have lived or worked in Hull for at least a year before standing for nomination.
The seminars are at The Guildhall on January 7, 2 - 4.30pm, and January 9, 7-9.30pm.
To find out more contact Di Taylor on 300300, email becomeacouncillor@hullcc.gov.uk or visit hullcc.gov.uk

New Code of Conduct for councillors

Notice is given in accordance with S.51(6)(b) of the Local Government Act 2000, that Hull City Council, at its meeting on September 20, adopted a revised code of conduct for its elected and co-opted Members.
A copy of the code is available for inspection by members of the public between the hours of 8.30 am until 5 pm Monday to Thursday and until 4pm on Fridays at The Guildhall, Alfred Gelder Street, Hull, HU1 2AA.
Alternatively, a copy can be found on the council website at www.hullcc.gov.uk.