CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSERVATIVES
OUR RECORD OF SERVICE

LISTENING TO YOU

Simply the Best

Cambridgeshire’s Conservative-run County Council is the most improved County Council in England. The accolade was announced by the Government’s watchdog, the Audit Commission, based on the Council’s performance over the last three years.

Council Leader, Jill Tuck, says ‘In order to drive up service quality, councils are set challenging targets for all areas of activity and 86% of Cambridgeshire’s performance indicators have improved, way above the national average.

‘Areas of improvement have been in regulatory service such as trading standards and planning where we have been ranked first out of 388 councils. Praise was also given for sustained improvement in social care for older and vulnerable people.

‘The report confirms the steady progress the County Council is making in delivering cost-effective, high quality services. We are not complacent and you rightly expect us to drive forward further improvements in services whilst at the same time keep our costs to a minimum.

‘In addition to being named the most improved Council in England, the Audit Commission has also given us top marks for our use of resources including our approach to delivering value for money, something very important to all of us.

‘I hope you will support us as we continue to deliver the best quality services at the lowest possible cost.’

Weathering the Storm

The credit crunch is impacting on every walk of life in Cambridgeshire. The County Council has acted quickly by:

Making sure our communities and businesses know where to go to for help, support and advice by creating a dedicated website and using local magazines and leaflets.
Bringing all public service providers together to agree practical ways of helping hard working families, businesses and communities.
Increasing funding to voluntary organisations, which carry out such valuable work.
Continuing to use our learning centres and other opportunities to help people beyond school age who need support with developing their skills and increasing their employment prospects.

Bringing Business to Cambridgeshire

As a forward looking county we are:

Encouraging business to relocate to Cambridgeshire
Creating excellent partnership working throughout the County
As an employer, developing our ability to help people into work, for example through apprenticeships.
Providing access to information and support for small businesses to start up and develop through a network of centres.

A PROMISE OF MORE

Providing for the Future

We want to make sure that we:

Support people of all ages in Cambridgeshire to live active, healthy and fulfilled lives.
Ensure people have access to community, cultural, learning and leisure activities.
Help children and young people to succeed, develop, stay safe, feel safe and be happy.
Use activities linked with the UK hosting the 2012 Olympics in order to increase participation in sport and active recreation.
Continue to rebuild and refurbish the County’s schools
Working with primary schools in relatively deprived areas such as Wisbech and North Huntingdon to raise young people’s career aspirations.

Promoting Independence and Helping the Vulnerable

We will ensure that we:

Identify, respect and meet the needs of the most vulnerable people in Cambridgeshire thus helping people of all ages to lead independent and enjoyable lives.
Protect people from neglect and abuse.
Are good at looking after children in our care and making sure they enjoy life and achieve their potential.
Ensure people have greater choice and control over the support and services that they use, including the option to access money to buy services themselves.
Develop ways of helping people to stay healthy and active so that they don’t need social care support.
Continue to help vulnerable people to stay in their own homes.

Protecting our Environment

Our plan is to:

Make sure that all we do is environmentally sustainable and takes advantage of opportunities to enhance the natural environment.
Help local people and businesses to live and work in environmentally friendly ways.
Open a state-of-the-art waste management facility to further improve our already excellent performance in waste disposal and recycling.
Open our first indoor recycling centre in St Neots.
Develop an approach to environmental education with local communities, working through schools and community networks.
Support local people and businesses to meet the challenges of the changing climate.

Roads, Traffic and Public Transport

Our commitment year on year is to keep Cambridgeshire moving safely. We will:

Continue to tackle congestion on our roads caused by the development of new housing in the county.
Focus maintenance of footways around services provided for vulnerable people, for example sheltered accommodation.
Develop community transport schemes.
Maintain and further develop a reliable and effective transport system throughout the county, including promoting the use of public transport.
Ensure that improvements to the A14 benefit the county.
In direct response to public comments, inject a £2 million cash boost for road and footpath maintenance in its budget for the current year whilst at the same time carry out a planned programme of highway repairs to potholes, following the recent adverse winter weather conditions.

The Best Deal for our Communities

Cambridgeshire’s success lies in the heart of our communities. We are:

Investing in new Libraries in Cambridge, Huntingdon, Wisbech and Shelford.
Actively supporting the Police Neighbourhood Panels, which will help develop safer communities and tackle anti-social behaviour – an issue we know is a top public priority.
Working to ensure that Cambridgeshire’s growth is managed properly so that it has a positive impact on our towns and villages.
Working with the community (including young people, parents and businesses) to reduce under-age drinking.
Providing appropriate community facilities in new housing developments.
Continuing to develop education programme for children and young people to encourage them to use alternatives to the car.

8th May 2009

Promoted by Stephen Frost on behalf of SOUTH EAST CAMBRIDGESHIRE both at 153 St Neots Road Hardwick Cambs CB23 7QJ Tel: 0845 812 7007 Fax: 01954 212455

CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSERVATIVES OUR RECORD OF SERVICE