Cambridgeshire S Local Area Agreement: Annual Refresh and Next Generation LAA S

AGENDA ITEM NO.5

Cambridgeshire’s Local Area Agreement: Annual Refresh and next Generation LAA’s

Date:11 January 2007

To: FSP Board

From: Sara Rodriguez-Jimenez, Cambridgeshire County Council

1.0PURPOSE

1.1The purpose of this report is to provide an update on the latest developments around Cambridgeshire’s LAA to include the potential implications of the Local Government White Paper in Local Area Agreements and partnership working.

2.0THE ANNUAL REFRESH

2.1The LAA Board formally adopted the 2007 annual refresh at the workshop held on 22 November. Copies of the new LAA will be made available in mid January when the final draft will be submitted to Go East (the final draft will be available at

2.2The new document includes revised local priorities and targets alongside the new mandatory outcomes prescribed by central government. Additional funding streams are also centrally pooled into the LAA from 2007/08, making the full list of pooled funding for next financial year as follows:

Safer and Stronger Communities Fund including ASB fund (Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnerships)
Drug and Alcohol Partnership Support Grant
Fenland Links
Rural & Social Community Programme
Waste Performance Efficiency Grant
Key stage 3: behaviour and attendance
Key stage 3: central coordination
Primary strategy central coordination
School development grant

2.3At the November workshop held for the LAA Board and LAA Reference Group partners identified four key areas within the agreement where the LAA can add most value and where there is scope for achieving some quick wins along the process of setting medium and long-term objectives. These will form the basis for the LAA Board’s (now called Cambridgeshire Together) forward programme setting out the work plan for 2007. The four priority areas are:

Community Cohesion (focus on travellers and migrant workers)
Public Health
Climate Change
Services for Older People

2.4Feedback from the six-month review provides an early indication of progress made to date with our LAA. At the meeting between CCC block leads and Go East on 27 November it was agreed that the overall performance of the LAA in the first six months is amber but with an overall expectation to move to green by the one year milestone. The majority of interventions are on track and there are clear achievements around improved partnership working.

2.5In the year ahead, we will continue to work to address aspects of the LAA in need of further development to ensure all partners adopt a successful and sound approach to partnership working that will facilitate joint planning and commissioning of services. The key areas that need to be addressed are:

Performance management
Capacity building of partnerships and organisations
Communications across partnerships and clarity of roles and responsibilities

3.0IMPLICATIONS OF THE WHITE PAPER: NEXT GENERATION LAA’S

3.1The Local Government White Paper places a strong emphasis on the role for local authorities to lead their communities, shape their areas and bring local public services together. There are clear ambitions for Local Area Agreements to become the key mechanism for influencing the totality of public expenditure; to establish a dialogue between central government and local public service providers; for setting priorities for the local area; and for embedding citizen/service user empowerment.

3.2Formal guidance on the next generation of LAAs is expected to be published in November / December 2007 when it is anticipated parliament will adopt the Bill. Local authorities and their partners will continue to be encouraged to develop new ways of working across boundaries with LAAs delivering improvement in services and demonstrating a more efficient use of resources.

3.3The White Paper introduces a new performance management framework with a single set of 200 national outcome indicators agreed through the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) 2007. A small number of targets will then be agreed with each area (35 plus DfEs statutory targets) through the Local Area Agreement. It appears that the reformed inspection regime will underpin negotiations for these key 35 ‘mandatory’ targets in the LAA based on the Audit Commission’s annual risk assessment.

3.4The proposals put forward clearly indicate that the next Local Area Agreement will become an important mechanism to determine priorities and to deliver the local authority and partners’ core business using mainstream funding. The 2007 CSR is likely to set new efficiency targets –explicit or implicit- and local areas will be expected to use LAAs as tools to achieve effective and efficient service delivery.

3.5Although 2007 and 2008 are likely to be years of transition, LAA partners should be encouraged to build on the progress made to date in developing and delivering Cambridgeshire’s LAA. Local priorities will continue to be an important element of LAAs; while the areas in need of further development highlighted in point 3.3 of this report should be addressed in this transitional period to ensure Cambridgeshire is placed on a strong footing to negotiate new targets with government in 2009.

DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY STRATEGIES

4.1The Local Government White Paper describes the Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS) as providing the strategic vision and as a vehicle for considering and deciding how to address difficult issues affecting a local area. The SCS should reflect the views of other partner agencies and partnerships, and other key local and regional plans such as the Local Development Framework.

4.2All five Cambridgeshire LSPs will be refreshing / reviewing their Community Strategies in the next year in their transition to preparing a new Sustainable Community Strategy with some, such as Fenland Strategic Partnership, currently working on the development of a SCS by March 2007 which will be aligned to the priorities reflected in the LAA among other key plans and strategies.

4.3Partners are considering whether there is scope and value in coordinating the development of the five Sustainable Community Strategies across the county and in doing so encourage greater cross-boundary collaboration among LSPs in planning and delivery of outcomes - where appropriate.