A local area agreement (LAA) in the UK is a 3-year agreement between
central government
A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or del ...
and a local area working through its
Local Strategic Partnership
Local strategic partnerships (LSPs) exist in nearly all local authority areas in England. They bring together representatives from the local statutory, voluntary, community and private sectors to address local problems, allocate funding, and discu ...
. It contains a set of improvement targets which local organisations are committed to achieving and a delivery plan setting out what each partner is intending to do to achieve those targets.
LAA targets have to reflect the vision, priorities and challenges set out in the Sustainable
Community strategy
A community strategy (strictly speaking a "sustainable community strategy" (SCS) further to the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 is a long-term strategy for the economic, social and environmental well-being of a local authority area in England.
Co ...
, which are 10-year vision statements for a given area required by national government. LAA targets are chosen in discussion with all partners, and are then negotiated with Government Departments, working through
Regional Government
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...
Offices. In two-tier counties (i.e. counties with both district and
county council
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.
Ireland
The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irel ...
s) LAAs are drawn up by the upper-tier authorities, that is, counties, unitaries,
London borough
The London boroughs are the 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs were all created at t ...
s.
Government provides a reward grant at the end of 3 years if LAA targets have been achieved.
LAAs were first introduced in 2004/05, starting with 20 pilot areas and extending across the country in three phases. The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 placed LAAs on statutory footing. All upper-tier
local authorities
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
were required to draw up a new LAA for the three-year period 2008/09 to 2010/11.
As of June 2008, LAAs are in place for all 150 upper-tier local authority areas in England. Different arrangements apply in Wales. In October 2010 it was announced that LAAs were to be abolished by Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles.
External links
* https://web.archive.org/web/20090907095720/http://www.communities.gov.uk/localgovernment/performanceframeworkpartnerships/localareaagreements/
* http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20090809184005/http%3A//www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId%3D6908743
* https://web.archive.org/web/20100309052846/http://www.urbanforum.org.uk/handy-guides/handy-guide-to-laas
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Local Area Agreement
Local government in the United Kingdom