Standing together

The overall crime rate in Hull has fallen by 24 per cent since 2004.
Thefts of vehicles have fallen by 52 per cent, and house burglaries have fallen by 41 per cent. Crime is not about numbers, however, and too many people are still victims of crime. That is why the council and other agencies, such as the police, are now stepping up the fight against crime.
An excellent example of a crime-fighting partnership is the work of the 'Street Marshals' who help revellers to have a safe night out in Hull.
By helping people find taxis home, assisting licensees, and generally being the eyes and ears of police, they have helped reduce violent crime and disorder in the city centre. (You can find out more about them by visiting www.streetmarshals.co.uk).
Partnership working is something I'll be learning more about when I start shadowing colleagues in the city to understand more about how the council and their organisations work together.
I'm keen to know more about what we do well now, what needs improving and how we can improve partnership working where there is crossover in work goals, such as the work we carry out with the services such as the police, fire and NHS.
Schools is another area that I would like to visit. In forthcoming issues of Hull in print, I'd like to share what happened from this exercise.
Meanwhile, the sale of the council's Kingston Communications shares has been a talking point across the city of late.
We made the decision because it was in the best interests of the city, its people, local businesses, local shareholders, and indeed KC itself.
Retaining a 30.6% stake in the company made little strategic sense to us.
Given the yield of the shares, and the long-term growth strategy of KC, there was little incentive for the council to deploy £100m of its scarce capital in a shareholding in one company.
The money we have raised from the sale will now be deployed in a diversified managed portfolio where it will provide a better investment income. It will be used for the long-term strategic benefit of the city.

Cllr Carl Minns
Leader, Hull City Council