Our Pledges to you in 2021

Your Environment

• Protect your free bin and waste collections
• Save the Green Belt and green spaces
• Introduce a bulky waste recycling service

Your Jobs and Skills

• Protect the Dudley Pound to boost our town centres
• Support new business start-ups
• Build new opportunities for young people

Tackling Crime For You

• Tough on crime and anti-social behaviour
• Create Community Protection Officers in every ward
• Target CCTV in crime hotspots

Your Communities

• Protect our NHS Services
• Build more affordable homes for First Time buyers
• Tackle food poverty so everyone has a square meal

Our Pleges to you in 2018

Where You Live

• Weekly bin collections, fortnightly kerbside recycling and free garden waste collection
• Clean an additional 7,500 street gullies in residential areas and remove fly tipped rubbish
• Introduce free bulky waste collection service pilot across the Borough
• Introduce free on-street recycling bin in all major town centres and in every ward
• Inspect problem trees within 10 days taking needed remedial action within 8 weeks
• Install mobile clean air sensors targeting high pollution areas
• Support to set up volunteer “snow buster” teams to keep your neighbourhood moving

Local Economy and Jobs

• Become Real Living Wage Council from April 2019 onwards
• Employ 150 apprentices at the Council over the next three years
• Help young people aged 16-29 into work by offering experience if they have been unemployed for 12 months
• Get developers and contractors looking to do business with the Council to offer apprenticeships and jobs locally
• Get businesses and public sector organisations to invest in and grow the local economy

Business Friendly

• Start-up businesses will receive a rent free period on any Council owned commercial property empty for 12 months or more
• Introduce free pop-up spaces across the Borough to help the community groups and small businesses showcase their work
• Introduce free evening and overnight parking from 7pm -7am in addition to 2 hours free parking during the day

Housing

• Build 300 new Council houses over the next 5 years
• Make our Borough a homelessness-free zone supporting and helping those in need
• Introduce street wardens to tackle problems blighting our areas
• Bring council homes up to standard and improve and improve council maintenance repair service
• Enforce tenant lettings contracts to tackle nuisance neighbours
• Reintroduce area based housing panels to tackle issues affecting you.
• Plan for the Borough’s future housing needs and increase the number of affordable homes

Health and Social Care Services

• Employ additional apprentice Fammily Support Workers to work in our communities
• Offer over 70s practical support to keep healthy and warm
• Increase cleaning in areas where elderly residents live to reduce the risk of slips and falls
• Improve personal independence by making telecare service more widely accessible
• Reduce waiting times for provision of minor aids and adaptations to keep you independent

Young People

• Offer work experience to school, college and university students
• Improve educational standards by working with schools
• Give primary and nursery schools additional funding to get children healthy
• Fund schools to host free breakfast and after school clubs
• Ensure no child receiving free school meals goes hungry during school summer holidays

Community

• Set up multi-agency community partner hubs which can tackle the wider issues affecting local people, including health, crime and Council issues
• Stand up for all our diverse local communities that make up the Borough
• Offer free Wi-Fi in all Dudley Council Community Centres
• Ensure people entitled to Universal Credit get all the help and support they need
• Work with the Police to pilot “Together We Can” community initiative using technology to reduce anti-social behaviour
• Use our influence to ensure local policing better serves our communities