It's a promise...

Hull City Council has made 27 new promises about things it's going to do to improve lives in the city over the next year.

The promises have been made across key areas – including safety, economy, learning and skills, environment, and health.
They build on the success of the last year's Making the Difference campaign, in which the council met 40 other promises.

1. We will cut house burglaries by introducing a new coordinated approach ("common tasking") in each of the seven areas of the city that will involve all relevant agencies and local residents in tackling the problem together. As a result, there will be a further seven per cent fall in domestic burglaries per 1000 households.
2. We will reduce the level of repeated domestic violence by providing more safe and secure accommodation for victims and their children fleeing domestic violence. Around 33 per cent more bed spaces will be available for victims of domestic violence, contributing to a further seven per cent reduction in common assault.
3. We will help to reduce crime and the fear of crime by informing communities of crime prevention schemes, by implementing initiatives through the new Community Safety Fund, and by providing a city-wide roll-out of community wardens to work alongside other agencies which are making our communities safer and stronger. As a result, there will be a further seven per cent fall in overall recorded crime levels within the city.
4. More local jobs will be created through the Acorn Fund, and by getting more businesses to move to Hull. In total 950 jobs will be created and/or protected.
5. We will make it easier to access business support and advice by setting up a "one-stop business shop" for local business people. There will be at least 55 new business start-ups and 1,625 local businesses will receive support and advice.
6. We will increase the number of people getting back into work through "welfare to work" programmes. A total of at least 255 people will find employment as a result.
7. We will launch a new Skills Fund to help local employers provide extra training for staff. A total of 300 employees in Hull will be supported by the Fund, and the extra training will increase their chances of finding work and boost their job security.
8. We will help young people who are leaving care to find work by further developing the Employability Scheme and Supported Lodgings Scheme for care leavers. At least four care leavers will find permanent work, 10 will be in work placements, and 55 supported lodgings places will be created.
9. We will involve parents more in their children's education by working with our partners to create more Community Focused schools, which offer a wider range of activities for young people and their families. By September 2007, at lease half of all local schools will by Community Focused and provide a 'full core offer' including child care for 48 weeks per year, swift and easy referral to education support agencies, and more parental support and community use of buildings.
10. We will encourage an expansion of travel by school bus by scrapping "red tape" and ensuring passes are given to parents of primary school children on the first day of term. The number of children travelling to school by bus will double.
11. More children will get better results at 14 years old through our launch of a "transition charter" that will help children moving from primary to secondary education get the support they need to cope with the change. Results at Key Stage 3 will be at least 10% better than last year.
12. We will improve secondary school attendance by working with the 100 young people in each of the seven areas of the city with the lowest attendance records. At least half of these pupils will have improved school attendance. Also, of the 700, more than a quarter of those who are in Year 11 will achieve at least 1 A*-G grade at GCSE, or the equivalent.
13. We will increase the number of local children centres and we will also work closely with families that are not accessing early education. Three more children's centres will be opened to improve support for young children and their families at a formative age, and more than 96% of all local four-year-olds will take up places at early years provision.
14. We will bring more local homes up to the Government's Decent Homes Standard, with the overall target of 100% by 2010. A further 1,350 council homes will meet the Decent Homes Standard this year.
15. We will review all long-term empty properties and make a decision on their future to improve the quality of our local environment. The number of long-term empty properties will reduce by more than 240 (27% of the total).
16. We will improve the responsiveness of our repairs service by streamlining processes and introducing new technology. At least 97% of urgent repairs will be completed within the target time.
17. We will respond more quickly to planning applications from all residents by improving processes and staff availability. More applications from residents will be dealt with in 8 weeks. At least 82 per cent of other applications will be determined in the agreed time period.
18. We will raise recycling rates by providing a mobile recycling facility, ensuring a wider range of products can be recycled. We will also open two more Household Waste Recycling Centres. At least 21 per cent of local waste will be recycled or composted, compared to 18 per cent at March 2006, which will reduce our use of landfil. At the same time, we will reduce our use of landfill sites and improve our environment.
19. We will reduce the level of litter, graffiti, fly-tipping and abandoned vehicles by putting in place a joined-up street-scene service to meet the priorities of local neighbourhoods.
    There will be a 25 per cent improvement in our environmental land survey results (measuring amounts of litter across different parts of the city), and a 25 per cent reduction in the number of vehicles judged to be abandoned.
20. We will improve the environment around out-of-city-centre shopping districts by working with local business partners to determine priorities. The level of cleanliness around shopping districts will improve by 25 per cent (according to our survey every 4 months).
21. We will respond more quickly to making repairs on unsafe local footpaths and carriageways. At least 83 per cent of identified carriageway repairs on unsafe footpaths and/or roads will be commenced within five working days of inspection, and 95 per cent of emergency repairs will be completed/made safe within two hours of inspection.
22. We will help vulnerable local people to live at home by introducing a "tele-care" system to monitor and detect any problems that they may be having in the home. This will result in more older people being helped to live at home (a total of at least 102 per 1000 population over 65).
23. We will expand the direct payments scheme to carers and to children who are carers, to enable them to purchase directly the care they need.
    This will result in more adults receiving direct payments.
24. We will enable more people to undertake a self-assessment for any items of equipment they need to live independently at home, so that equipment can be provided more quickly, in order to avoid them having to go into residential care. More equipment will be delivered within seven working days.
25. We will strive for better value for money by reducing our reliance on external consultants.
    There will be a 15% reduction in expenditure on external consultants, to enable more investment in improving the quality of front-line services.
26. We will ensure new residents to an area know where to access services by introducing a 'welcome pack', which will include accessible and relevant information on council services, and on how to engage and participate in local issues.
    The welcome packs will be available and distributed to new residents in each of the seven committee areas of the city.
27. We will make it easier to access Council services by extending the number of services that are available directly to customers through our customer service centres, our call centre and our Internet links.
    At least 20 per cent more services will be available at our customer access points.

Info

For more information, visit www.hullcc.gov.uk * or call 300300