Meeting documents

1 THE ISSUE

1.1 This reports sets out proposals for the use of Local Area Agreement (LAA) Pump-Priming Funding to help the delivery of the LAA stretch targets.

2 RECOMMENDATION

2.1 The proposals set out in the Appendix for the use of LAA Pump-Priming Funding be approved

2.2 Reporting against delivery of the LAA stretch targets take place through the Council's quarterly performance reporting system

2.3 Monitoring of expenditure of pump-priming grant be reported though the Council's financial reporting system

3 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

4 COMMUNITY STRATEGY OUTCOMES

The Local Area Agreement has been developed within the policy framework provided by the Community Strategy and is designed to contribute significantly to Community Strategy outcomes. The report to the Council Executive in September 2006 set out in detail how the emerging LAA framework contributes to the Community Strategy ambitions. Overall, the targets contribute to the cross-cutting outcomes of:

Specifically, the stretch targets are designed to help deliver components of the Community Strategy's improvement ambitions, as set out below:

5 CORPORATE IMPROVEMENT PRIORITIES

The report to the Council Executive in September 2006 set out in detail how the emerging LAA framework contributes to the Corporate Plan improvement ambitions. The LAA stretch targets contribute significantly and specifically to the following Corporate Improvement Priorities

6 CPA KEY LINES OF ENQUIRY

o Sustainable Communities and Transport

o Safer and Stronger Communities

o Healthier Communities

7 THE REPORT

7.1 The Council Executive at its meeting of 10th January requested that a report be prepared on the use of the Pump-Priming funding which would follow from agreeing the final Local Area Agreement document. It also resolved that the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Council Leader, be authorised to finalise the agreement document and make arrangements for signature.

7.2 Full Council at its meeting of 20^th February approved the financial implications for the Council of the Local Area Agreement, including pooled and aligned budgets and the financial implications of "stretch" targets. These targets attract both "up-front" pump-priming funding and a reward if the target is met.

7.3 £920,000 will be made available by Government to "pump-prime" the stretch targets in the Local Area Agreement, following signature of the agreement. A total of £4.548m of Performance Reward Grant (PRG) is available is all reward targets are met.

7.4 It is important that any Pump-Priming funding allocated to the "stretch" targets can be shown to provide value for money, be sustainable and will focus on delivering the target. To assist with this process, the Business Improvement Service has undertaken a piece of work on the best use of PPG to maximise the opportunity for meeting stretch targets in a way that that meets value-for-money considerations and is sustainable over time. Their analysis included consideration of:

7.5 The Business Improvement Service have now completed their analysis and this has been taken into account in the proposal set out in the Appendix for the use of Pump-Priming funding.

8 RISK MANAGEMENT

8.1 The report author and Lead Executive member have fully reviewed the risk assessment related to the issue and recommendations, in compliance with the Council's decision making risk management guidance. All stretch targets were subject to risk assessment processes during their development. The work undertaken by the Business Improvement Service on Pump-Priming is based around a robust risk assessment model which includes key risk issues such as sustainability and governance.

9 RATIONALE

9.1 The rationale is based on clear and robust work undertaken by the Business Improvement Service designed to meet the LAA stretch targets.

10 OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED

10.1 An option of not using the Business Improvement Service (BIS) to conduct this analysis was considered but rejected on the grounds that use of the BIS was the best way of ensuring that the Pump Priming Grant was subject to rigorous analysis in terms of sustainable improvement over time.

11 CONSULTATION

11.1 Trades Unions; Overview & Scrutiny Panel; Staff; Other B&NES Services; Service Users; Community Interest Groups; Other Public Sector Bodies; Section 151 Finance Officer; Chief Executive; Monitoring Officer

11.2 A wide range of consultations have taken place on the Local Area Agreement, and a detailed statement of how the community has been involved in its development has been prepared. The first draft of the LAA was reported to each Overview and Scrutiny Panel in the November cycle. The comments of these panels have been fed into the process of developing the agreement. In addition, three workshops for elected members were held in November and early December 2006, which provided an opportunity to discuss in detail the content of the LAA, including stretch targets.

11.3 The joint meeting of the LAA Project Board and LSP on 22nd February considered the position regarding the LAA stretch targets in detail and resolved to authorise the Chair of the LSP to sign the LAA on behalf of the partnership

11.4 A report on the funding issues for the Local Area Agreement was presented to the Resources Overview and Scrutiny Panel on 12th December. A report was presented to the Trades Union Consultative/Advisory body on 26^th March.

12 ISSUES TO CONSIDER IN REACHING THE DECISION

12.1 Customer Focus; Sustainability; Human Resources; Property; Corporate;

13 ADVICE SOUGHT

13.1 The Council's Monitoring Officer (Council Solicitor) and Section 151 Officer (Strategic Director - Support Services) have had the opportunity to input to this report and have cleared it for publication. Detailed advice has also been sought from the Business Improvement Service.