Local Area Agreement (LAA)
A Local Area Agreement is a three year agreement, based on local Sustainable Community Strategies, that sets out the priorities for a local area agreed between Central Government, represented by the Government Office (GO), and a local area, represented by the local authority and other key partners through the Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs).
The primary objective of an LAA is to deliver genuinely sustainable communities through better outcomes for local people. LAAs also have the secondary objectives of:
- Improving Central and Local Government Relations
- Enhancing Efficiency Strengthening Partnerships Working
- Offering a Framework within which the Local Authorities can enhance their Community Leadership Role
The Local Government White Paper 2006 confirmed its commitment to LAA’s as the delivery framework for Sustainable Communities and made the agreements a statutory requirement.
LAAs are structured around four blocks (or policy fields):
- Children and Young People
- Safer and Stronger Communities
- Healthier Communities and Older People
- Economic and the Environment
Across the country there is a requirement to have a new LAA in place to run for the period 2008-2011. The LAA has to be negotiated agreed with the Government Office signed off by Central Government in June 2008.
In Bedfordshire we are nearing our final stages of development. We have identified 23 key targets taken from the National Indicator set plus mandatory targets linked to children and young people. These will be published on these pages in June 2008.
The LAA for Bedfordshire will be a countywide agreement for 2008/9 only. From 2009 onwards the LAA wll be split recognising the two new unitary authorities of:
