Meeting documents

1 THE ISSUE

1.1 The report contains an update on progress made by the Project Board on developing the Local Area Agreement. It presents a Draft Outcomes Framework for agreement by the Executive as the basis for further engagement on the detailed first draft of the LAA.

2 RECOMMENDATION

2.1 The revised LAA project timetable set out in Appendix 1 be noted

2.2 The report of the Project Board on the initial draft Outcome Framework attached at Appendix 2 be adopted for the purpose of developing the first draft of the Local Area Agreement

2.3 The Project Board be requested to continue engagement with partners and local communities to build on this framework and produce a further report on progress on the draft LAA for consideration by the Executive in September

2.4 The Project Board be requested to provide information to the Executive in September on prioritising and refining the Outcomes framework.

3 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

3.1 Bath & North East Somerset's first Local Public Service Agreement (LPSA) attracted £920,000 in "pump-priming" funds into the area and it is expected that significant performance reward grant will also be gained. Similar sums will potentially be available through the LAA, now that the PSA "reward" element has been incorporated into the LAA process. The Executive has earmarked £50,000 from expected PSA performance reward grant to `pump-prime' the development of the LAA

4 THE REPORT

4.1 The Executive at its meeting of 8th February agreed to establish a Local Area Agreement Project Board comprising elected members, partners (including the Police and PCT), representatives from the voluntary and community sectors, and from the LSP.

4.2 ODPM have subsequently produced detailed Guidance for areas who will be beginning their LAAs in April 2007, necessitating some revisions to the timetable adopted in February. The revised project timetable, adopted by the Project Board, is attached as Appendix One.

4.3 The initial key milestone is the requirement to provide a "first draft LAA" to Government Office by the end of September. A second draft will be required by the end of December, with a finalised document agreed in February 2007 ready for implementation in April 2007.

4.4 The ODPM Guidance also contains a series of mandatory outcomes that must be contained in all LAAs. These are:
· Improve health and reduce health inequalities
· Reduce crime
· Reassure the public, reducing the fear of crime
· Reduce the harm caused by illegal drugs
· Build respect in communities and reduce anti-social behaviour
· Empower local people to have a greater choice and influence over local decision making and a greater role in public service delivery.

4.5 To progress this work, the Project Board has produced a first draft "outcomes" framework for the LAA. This is attached at Appendix Two. The outcomes framework is based on thirteen key themes, and draws upon
(1) The Community Strategy and Corporate Plan improvement priorities
(2) The mandatory LAA outcomes framework
(3) Issues identified by elected members in LAA workshops held in January
(4) Existing key plans and strategies, including those agreed with partners
(5) Issues identified through the LSP and the Key Partnerships reporting to it
(6) Involvement of the Voluntary and Community Sector
(7) Analysis of the "evidence base" for the area, including issues of local concern
(8) Overview and Scrutiny recommendations

4.6 This framework will form the basis of the first draft LAA, which will be subject to a further report to the Executive on September, prior to presentation to GOSW. There will be opportunities to add "sub-outcomes" and specific projects to the framework as the process develops, which will also draw from the list set out in 4.6. It will also be subject to a range of engagement and development activities over the period prior to this, including further discussions with partnerships, with Parish and Town councils and a series of local community events, planned for July.

4.7 In order to produce a first draft it will also be necessary for the Project Board to undertake further work on potential projects, performance indicators and funding streams. This will be integrated with work being undertaken within the Council and partners to ensure a coherent approach to performance management. The Project board will also consider options for LAA governance arrangements and proposals for "enabling measures" requested as part of the LAA.

5 RISK MANAGEMENT

6 RATIONALE

6.1 Bath & North East Somerset Council is the accountable body for the LAA and, through its Community Leadership role, has a key interest in ensuring that the LAA outcome framework is robust. It is important therefore that the Council Executive determines the draft outcomes framework at this stage.

7 OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED

7.1 None

8 CONSULTATION

8.1 Executive councillor, Parish council, Town council, Overview & Scrutiny Panel, Trades unions, Other B&NES Services, Local residents, Community Interest Groups, Youth Council, Stakeholders/Partners, Other public sector bodies, Section 151 Finance Officer, Chief Executive, Monitoring Officer

8.2 Engagement has taken place with a wide range of stakeholders and partnerships on the LAA process so far, including member workshops. Plans are in place to test the draft outcomes framework with partners, town and parish councils and local communities, including local community events taking place in July 2006. A report was made to the Corporate Issues and Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny Panel on 18th May.