Helping children will be the central mission of Sussex's army of public servants over the coming years, it has been announced.

The Government unveiled the "targeted priorities" that each of the county's largest local authorities have chosen as their focus until at least 2011. Almost a quarter of the targets relate to the health, welfare and safety of young people.

Brighton and Hove's 35 priorities include tackling obesity in primary schools, speeding up assessments for children's social care, helping more students pass their exams, cutting teen pregnancies, getting more 16 to 18-year olds into education, training or work and boosting the effectiveness of child and adolescent mental health services.

The 33 priorities of East Sussex include reducing youth re-offending, encouraging breast feeding, increasing the participation of young people in "positive activities" and switching school transport away from the car. West Sussex embraced many of these and also pledged to tackle bullying among its 33 priorities.

The new local targets - called Local Area Agreements - were drawn up by the city and county councils in consultation with more than two dozen sectors and agencies at the sharp end of providing services to the public, such as police, health and social workers, Jobcentre staff and highways.

The agreements, part of a shake-up of targets aimed at devolving power to local areas, are meant to identify the "specific priorities that will most improve the quality of life" of residents and reflect their "individual challenges and circumstances".

Progress will be tracked by independent auditors and results published, so any failure to improve can be identified, and local authorities and service providers held to account by local people.

As an extra incentive, councils able to demonstrate sufficient progress in their priority areas by 2011 stand to gain a share of £340 million made available by the Government.

Aside from young people, Sussex's priorities range from boosting the number of available homes, dealing with the "perception" of anti-social behaviour, tackling traffic congestion and reducing carbon dioxide emissions to address climate change. There is also a strong focus on improving health - with cutting smoking and boosting participation in sport featuring in the agreements.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Local Area Agreements would "drive up standards, respond to local concerns, and help people hold their local council to account".

Local government minister John Healey told The Argus: "This is likely to lead to councils being clearer about what they are trying to achieve and I hope and expect it will lead to even stronger results."

But Tory local government spokesman Eric Pickles said: "These aren't true local priorities, but rather those of Whitehall bureaucrats and the unelected Government Offices the Regions. It speaks volumes that key issues of local concern like keeping council tax down or protecting weekly rubbish collections aren't mentioned."