1         THE ISSUE

1.1    This report provides an update on the Local AreaAgreement (LAA) refresh for Bath & North East Somerset. The LAA is a threeyear agreement between the Government, the Council and its partners through theLocal Strategic Partnership (LSP).

2         RECOMMENDATION

The Cabinetagrees that:

2.1    The current draft of the Local Area Agreement for Bath& North East Somerset, attached as appendix 1, is approved for negotiationwith GOSW.

2.2    The Chief Executive is authorised to finalise thedocument for submission in consultation with the Leader in light of suchnegotiations

2.3    The Chief Executive signs the Local Area Agreement forBath & North East Somerset on behalf of the Council.

3         FINANCIALIMPLICATIONS

3.1    There will be performance reward grant associated withachievement of all targets set for the indicators listed in Appendix 1. Central Government has not yet announced theexact details of how the reward model will work although it is expected thatperformance reward would be aggregated on achievement across all targets andwould be assessed on performance in the final year of the LAA i.e. 2010/11.

3.2    The existing "stretch" targets that were agreed aspart of the previous round of LAA's remain aspriority indicators and also have performance reward grant associated withthem.

4         CommunityStrategy Outcomes

The Local Area Agreement is considered to be a threeyear action plan to deliver the priorities outlined in the CommunityStrategy. It therefore supports thefollowing ambitions:

·     Promoting a'sense of place' so people identify with and take pride in our communities

·     Celebratingthe contributions people from different backgrounds and with differentexperiences can make, and promoting equality of opportunity

·     Sharingresources, working together, and finding new ways of doing things

·     Buildingcommunities where people feel safe and secure

·     Takingresponsibility for our environment and natural resources now and over the longterm

·     Improving ourlocal transport

·     Improving ourhousing situation for local people

·     Improvinglocal opportunities for learning and gaining skills

·     Improving ourlocal economy

·     Improving our localenvironment

·     Improving ourlocal health and social care

5         CORPORATEIMPROVEMENT PRIORITIES

The Local Area Agreement hasbeen developed from the overarching B&NES story and is aligned with thecorporate improvement priorities.

·       Improvingtransport and the public realm

·       Buildingcommunities where people feel safe and secure

·       Addressing thecauses and effects of climate change

·       Improving theavailability of affordable housing

·       Promoting theindependence of older people

·       Improving thelife chances of disadvantaged children and young people

·       Improvingschool buildings

·       Sustainablegrowth

6         CPA KEY lines ofenquiry

·     Ambition forthe community - i.e. What the council, together with its partners, is trying toachieve

·     Prioritisationof ambitions

·     Increasingcapacity of the council to deliver ambition for the Community to ensure weachieve what we say we will

·     Managingperformance of community ambition to ensure we achieve what we say we will

·     Creating anddeveloping a better quality of life for the area through

o Sustainable Communities and Transport

o Safer and Stronger Communities

o Healthier Communities

·     Improvingengagement with and a range of services for Older People and Children and YoungPeople

7         the report

Background:

7.1    In October 2007, as part of the Comprehensive SpendingReview (CSR), the Government announced a new single set of 198 nationalindicators for every single tier and county council and Local StrategicPartnership (LSP). Local AreaAgreement's are to become the performance management framework for Local Authorities working inpartnership with other agencies such as PCT's and they focus on the prioritiesthat are important for Bath & North East Somerset.

7.2    With effect from 1^st April 2008 these indicators replace all existing Local Authorityindicators such as Best Value and Performance Assessment Frameworkindicators. All 198 indicators will be measured but only the indicators that arecontained in the new Local Area Agreement (LAA) will be reported on toGovernment.

7.3    The LAA needs to comprise up to 35 targets (known as"designated targets") plus 16 statutory education and early years targets. These targets will be negotiated withGovernment and performance against them will be reported on. Local indicators can also be contained withinthe LAA. They will be reported to andmonitored by the Council and Local Strategic Partnership but do not need to bereported on to Central Government.

LocalArea Agreement - Progress to Date:

7.4    The story of Bath and North East Somerset, set out in the Council'sCorporate Plan, highlights the challenges that the area is facing and theCouncil's priorities in addressing them. From the overarching B&NES story, six theme stories have beendeveloped to expand on the challenges in more detail. These stories make reference to the detailedevidence base that justifies why an issue has been raised and why an indicatorhas been proposed for the Local Area Agreement.

7.5    Stories have been developed for each theme of theLAA; Safer Communities; StrongerCommunities; Healthier Communities and Older People; Children and Young People;Economic Development and Enterprise; and Environmental Sustainability andClimate Change.

7.6    The work undertaken in developing the LAA has led torecognition that there are three cross-cutting issues relevant across the LAAthemes. These are (i) Narrowing the gap; (ii) Climatechange; and (iii) Reducing health inequalities. The formulation of any action plan that supports delivery of LAA targetswill take these issues into account.

MultiArea Agreement - Progress Update:

7.7    Work has been underway at a sub regional level throughthe West of England Partnership in developing a Multi Area Agreement. This follows the same principles as the LocalArea Agreement but considers ways to tackle an issue at a sub regionallevel. Targets are set across the subregion and the added value comes through either the joined up working by eachof the Unitary Authorities, or through a more stretching target beingnegotiated. Appendix 1 denotes theindicators that will have a target set within the MAA.

NextSteps:

7.8    Government Office South West (GOSW) has expressedtheir support for the indicators being put forward. A period of negotiation is now being enteredinto whereby three year targets are agreed. This will continue throughMay. The LAA will be subject to varioussign off procedures including Cabinet, PCT Board and the Police Authority. The LAA is formally signed off by aGovernment Minister on behalf of all government departments, the chair of theLocal Strategic Partnership and the Chief Executive of the Council.

8         RISK MANAGEMENT

8.1    The report author and Lead Cabinet member have fullyreviewed the risk assessment related to the issue and recommendations, incompliance with the Council's decision making risk management guidance.

9         RATIONALE

9.1    The Local Area Agreement has been developed using arobust evidence base of the issues facing Bath & North East Somerset overthe next few years. This evidence base comparedissues from the whole framework of the Social, Environmental and Economicspectrum.

9.2    This has been shared with partners and this has beenconsidered alongside evidence of existing performance in order to set out thoseissues which the Local Strategic Partnership wishes to focus more of its timeand resource.

10     OTHER OPTIONSCONSIDERED

10.1    The Local Area Agreement was developed looking at arange of issues and a judgement has been made based on the rationale above tofocus on the proposed indicators as areas where we need to have greatest impactover the time of the LAA period.

11     CONSULTATION

11.1    The LAA has been consulted on with members of theLocal Strategic Partnership, Duty to Cooperate Partners, Group Leaders,Overview & Scrutiny Panels, Community Interest Groups and a range ofstakeholders and partners.

11.2    The LAA Theme Sponsors form the Executive of the LocalStrategic Partnership and are acting as the project board for the refresh ofthe LAA. A project team of themeco-ordinators is responsible for liaising with thevarious partnership structures that sit beneath each theme on order to gain arounded and evidence based view of the priorities for the area. In addition, the indicator shortlist has beendiscussed at the LSP Public Services Group, various thematic partnerships andwas endorsed by the full LSP at its meeting on the 10^th April 2008.

12     ISSUES TOCONSIDER IN REACHING THE DECISION

12.1    Social Inclusion; Sustainability; Young People;Equality (age, race, disability, religion/belief, gender, sexual orientation);Human Rights; Corporate performance; Narrowing the Gap; Reducing HealthInequalities.

13     ADVICE SOUGHT

13.1    The Council's Monitoring Officer (Council Solicitor)and Section 151 Officer (Strategic Director - Support Services) have beenconsulted on this report.