Local Area Agreements: Enabling Measures

Enabling Measures are mechanisms to help overcome potential obstacles to the delivery of LAA outcomes and targets. Local areas developing LAAs may request such measures as part of the development of their LAA outcomes and targets. When considering this local areas should discuss their approach with the Government Office (GO) and develop a business case explaining:

The LAA outcome or target to which the request relates;
The problem or obstacle to achieving that outcome or target that the request seeks to overcome;
How the request, if granted, would remove the obstacle or alleviate the problem;
How this will help meet the outcome or target;
What other options may be available to achieve this.

The GO will want to probe these issues further and identify whether the flexibility already exists for local partners to change the way they are working or whether there are any other ways of resolving the problem. If this is not possible the GO will help work up the business case for presentation to the relevant Government department or departments, who will take the matter forward in discussion with the GO and local partners.

The list of agreed requests for Round 2 can be downloaded from below. A snapshot of requests agreed during the Pilot LAA Round are also available. Some have since been superseded by events or policy developments so are no longer current, others are not strictly speaking requests for Enabling Measures because there was existing flexibility in procedures. Nevertheless they are included here to clarify the position. Requests are considered on a case-by-case basis, so a request may be agreed for one local area but not for another. Local conditions and the role of the requested measure in helping meet LAA outcomes will be the key considerations.

Where it is not possible to agree a request the local area will wish to discuss with its GO the alternatives to resolving the issue in question. A list of requests Government Departments have been unable to agree for Round 2 can be downloaded from below as can a snapshot of requests from the Pilot Round. Explanations as to why they could not be agreed are also provided below for the benefit of those considering similar requests.

The lists of requests agreed and not agreed are not intended to be comprehensive, they are a snapshot of those requests resolved by Government Departments and do not include those resolved at GO level.

A number of more detailed explanatory statements on common issues raised by several LAAs have also been prepared and are included under each round.