City of York Council has announced its vision for the next ten years as part of a re-freshed corporate strategy, launched today (Tuesday, 11 December).

The corporate strategy sets out a clear direction for the authority over the next ten years as well as identifying the ten key priorities for the council over the next four years.

The vision outlines how the council needs to change in the future to continue to meet the needs of the city. It includes statements about what the council wants to achieve -  such as strong leadership and the promotion of cohesive and inclusive communities - and values, that will run through everything that the authority does. These include delivering what customers want and supporting and developing people.

The strategy also contains ten 'refreshed' key priorities that reflect the most important themes for the council over the next four years.

The key thread that runs through all the priorities is a focus on helping the people in York who are most vulnerable, and tackling inequality across the issues represented there, including health, crime, housing and educational achievement.

Bill McCarthy, the council's chief executive, said: "The production of the first corporate strategy last year was a real milestone for the council and the new refreshed version underlines our commitment to the issues which we know are most important to the people of York and ensuring that improvement in these areas is both significant and sustained.

"Despite receiving the lowest income per head of population of any comparable council we continue to be ambitious for the future and its vital that we are clear about our long term direction. This includes our continuing commitment to work in partnership to better meet the needs of our customers."

One of the council's new priorities for 2007 is the need to reduce the environmental impact its activities and encourage others to do the same. The council has committed to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gasses by 25 per cent by 2013 and the development of a Climate Change Strategy for York will identify what can be done to reduce the environmental impact from the city as a whole.

The council's other key priorities of the next four years include:
- to decrease the tonnage of biodegradable waste and recyclable product going to landfill
- increase the use of public and other environmentally friendly modes of transport
- improve the actual and perceived condition and appearance of the city's streets, housing estates and publicly accessible spaces
- reduce the actual and perceived impact of violent, aggressive and nuisance behaviour on people in York
- increase people' skills and knowledge to improve future employment prospects
- improve the economic prosperity of the people in York with a focus on minimising income differentials
- improve the health and lifestyles of the people who live in York, in particular among groups  whose levels of health are the poorest
- improve the life chances of the most disadvantages and disaffected children, young people and families in the city
- improve the quality and availability of decent affordable homes in the city

The strategy will be reviewed every year to ensure that the council is on track to achieve its goals. To read it in more detail, please visit www.york.gov.uk