Local Area Agreement (LAA) - The Herefordshire Partnership

Local Area Agreement (LAA)

13th October 2010

Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles has announced the abolition of the 152 Local Area Agreements (LAAs) and the National Indicator Set.

 

LAAs were a three-year agreement made between central government and the local area and were due to continue until 2011. It identified the priorities for the County and what local organisations were going to do to address these challenges. LAAs consisted of up to 35 targets (selected from a set of national performance indicators) which were designed to reflect the priorities for the county

Eric Pickles criticised the bureaucracy surrounding the system and said that a simpler system would be introduced which would give more freedom and power to local authorities, allowing them to make their own decisions on issues such as housing and planning. 

Eric Pickles said that the Localism Bill, which will be unveiled in a few weeks time, would give councils more power to organise themselves, through a General Power of Competence.  He also said that the Comprehensive Spending Review would streamline the sources of funding given to councils. He said the current system, with multiple funding streams, did not give an incentive for local authorities to be efficient or imaginative.

He pledged that as much money as possible would be paid to councils in just one cheque, giving Councils the power to work out for themselves how to spend the resources available to them. However, he stressed that this would bring with a responsibility to protect frontline services, to commission really effective and productive services that would really benefit the local community.
Herefordshire Partnership will be following developments closely and will be working with the six Policy and Delivery Groups to ensure that by working together we achieve the best possible outcomes for those live, work or visit Herefordshire.