A day in the life of a resident

Council services are such a focal part of every resident's life that it is often easy to forget who provides these services to you. Our staff work hard to ensure that these services are available when you expect them to be there.

So every week....

You step out your door and put out your rubbish and recycling, which will be regularly collected. As you drive or walk down the road you will pass litter bins that are emptied by the council. All the grass verges will be mowed regularly in the summer months. Some of you will live in a council home. If you own your home we'll guide you when you want to make alterations or build extensions and ensure your neighbours don't make changes to their home that could unacceptably affect you. We are also helping make more homes in the city energy efficient saving on fuel bills.

If you walk down your street you will pass pavements and gullies that are kept litter free by the council and our team of road sweepers. On school days our school patrols help ensure children get safely across the road. We'll provide a school place for every child. We also provide your younger children with nursery care. We run many educational programmes for children in addition to regular curricular activity such as road safety. We also provide nutritionally balanced school meals.

If you drive to work you'll use roads, street lights and road signs maintained by the council. During the day or evening you might visit one of our libraries and borrow a book or use the internet. You could go for a swim or take part in a class at one of our Fit City centres. You could visit Salford Museum and Art Gallery or Ordsall Hall, two of the city's cultural gems. You can take your dog or yourself for a walk in any of our parks. You might also park in one of our car parks to go shopping.

Our teams of inspectors ensure that if you want to buy something to eat, the food you eat will be safe and that your child will not be sold alcohol by an unscrupulous trader. We'll also may sure you get a proper pint in your local pub, a full kilo of apples in your local shop, a real litre of petrol in your tank and take any action needed to stop pollution.

We work closely with the police to improve the safety of our communities, including supporting witnesses and victims as well as providing crime prevention measures like CCTV. If someone sprays graffiti on your fence or wall, we'll take care of it.

Many of the businesses you might use have been encouraged to come to Salford by the council. The regeneration of areas like Salford Quays has been planned and led by the council.

For children who cannot live with their own family we will provide care and manage foster care programmes.

If you need extra help in your home in your old age we will help you with the care services you need. We're proud to say that we will take action as sensitively as we can if any one of you of any age, is being abused. And we're always there for the happy and sad times - for both births and marriages as well as deaths in your family. In the event of an emergency, like a flood or major incident, we will work with the emergency services to evacuate communities and temporarily rehouse people when they need it. If you ever have the misfortune to be made homeless we'll help you find a place to stay and if you are unemployed we have services to help you get back to work.

This page was last updated on 3 October 2009