Devolution to Local Partnerships in England assured

Published	29 March 2007

For the first time, every area in England now has its own agreement on local priorities, individually negotiatied and agreed with central government. These agreements set out what councils and key partners will deliver for local people and how they will collectively spend public money to do this.

For the first time, every area in England now has its own agreement on local priorities, individually negotiated and agreed with central government. These agreements set out what councils and key partners will deliver for local people and how they will collectively spend public money to do this.

The final 62 Local Area Agreements (LAA's) were signed at a ceremony today, providing a sound basis for implementing the radical proposals set out in the Local Government White Paper.

New locally agreed priorities, along with proposals for three year settlements from 2008, will give councils both the stable and predictable funding they want, and the power and flexibility to meet the challenges faced by their local communities.

Local Government Minister, Phil Woolas, said:

"Today marks a watershed for devolution to local government. We made a clear commitment that all areas in England would be covered by a LAA by April 2007 and we have achieved that, this is a remarkable achievement.

"LAA's ensure greater clarity about central and local responsibilities, a new settlement, to deliver the key recommendations of greater flexibility and clarity in Sir Michael Lyons' report, published last week.

"This is by no means the end of the story. New proposals for LAA's are at the heart of our devolutionary agenda for local government - as laid out in our White Paper - they give councils the ability to tackle the most important challenges in their areas, whilst reducing the number of centrally set targets. They could for example use their LAA to tackle climate change or focus on social exclusion in their communities."

The final 62 Local Area Agreements have been signed by Ruth Kelly, at a ceremony in London today. From 2008 LAAs will be about outcomes, however funded. Any of the non-ring fenced money that local authorities have can be spent on achieving LAA outcomes. Leaving aside money for fire, police and schools this would be some £42bn this year.