Issue - meetings

The Board received a report of the Strategic Director, Corporate and Policy which provided the latest draft of Halton’s new Local Area Agreement for endorsement and sign off on behalf of Halton Borough Council.

 

A Local Area Agreement was a 3-year protocol that set out the priorities for a local area. This must be agreed between central government and the area itself, as represented by the lead local authority and other key partners through Local Strategic Partnership. Halton had had in place an Agreement since April 2007. However, part of the new Local Government Act, Communities and Local Government (CLG) announced that the current framework of Local Area Agreements would be replaced with new Local Area Agreements from 2008. The timetable dictated that Ministers must sign off the final version by June 2008.

 

At the Executive Board meeting on 10^th April 2008, members were provided with a report on the LAA, outlining the structure and process for development. Partners in Halton had been working in recent months to produce a new LAA document in line with Government requirements. The “Story of place” and initial draft outcomes framework was agreed by Executive Board in April. Since then, a series of negotiation meetings have been held with Government.

 

At the core of the LAA was the outcomes framework. This had been the focus of the negotiation process with GONW. At annex A was the current draft. It was noted that the list of designated indicators stands at 32 in total, plus the 16 mandatory children and young people indicators. This was the final list which had been agreed with government.

 

In addition it was ntoed that the emerging LAA was founded on Halton’s current Community Strategy, and clearly follows the reasoning and rationale adopted in our current LAA. At its core was the need to agree an outcomes framework that describes local aspirations and would act as a framework for future action.

 

The Board noted that the Government Office had asked for targets in respect of recycling which were higher than those which, on advice from consultants, had been objectively set in the Council's Waste Strategy.

 

 

RESOLVED: That

 

(1)      endorse the LAA on behalf of Halton Borough Council (Annex A)

           and approve it for sign off by Ministers; and

 

(2)            Delegate authority to the Strategic Director Corporate and Policy,

            to make any  final amendments  following continuing dialogue

            with GONW.