IMPORTANT information about county council performance targets is being published in local newspapers this week. Cambridgeshire County Council has produced a four-page pullout detailing which targets have been achieved, together with the council s main ai

IMPORTANT information about county council performance targets is being published in local newspapers this week.

Cambridgeshire County Council has produced a four-page pullout detailing which targets have been achieved, together with the council's main aims for the next 12 months.

The targets met by the council include reducing the number of pupils excluded from school, reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured on the county's roads, increasing bus travel in and out of Cambridge, increasing the amount of waste recycled or composted, and reducing staff sickness levels.

The council was less successful at meeting targets on exam results, reducing school absence and reducing violent crime.

Targets for the next 12 months include raising GCSE results, ensuring a high proportion of schools receive favourable Ofsted inspections, reducing the teenage conception rate, increasing the number of older people living at home, increasing further the amount of waste recycled and composted, and raising public satisfaction with council services.

All county councils are legally required by the Government to publish information on performance indicators - targets - each year and make this available to the public. As well as the pullout in the local press, the information will be on Cambridgeshire County Council's website.

Conservative council leader Keith Walters said: "Setting ambitious targets for each of our services is a key element of our approach to continuous improvement.

"Our key targets reflect both the range of services we provide and the issues which public surveys show are most important to the taxpayers.

"This publication is both an open and honest account of how well we performed last year, and a guide to our key priorities for the year ahead."