Local Area Agreement

Local Area Agreement (LAA) is about the sort of place you want to live in. They are about setting the strategic direction and focusing on the priorities that will make Southampton a better place. The aim of the LAA is to improve services for local people.

They are three-year agreements with priorities agreed between all the main public sector agencies and other partners working in the area and with central government.

The LAA is based on the objectives in the City of Southampton Strategy. The aim of the LAA is to translate these into targets to secure the improvements local people want to see.

The LAA contains 27 designated and 6 place holder improvement targets that have been selected from the new National Performance Indicator set as well as 16 Statutory Children's Service and Early Years targets. In addition there are 200 local performance targets.

The main objectives of the LAA are:

• To help deliver the long term, strategic objectives set out in the City of Southampton Strategy and the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire's Business plan in order to secure better outcomes and enhance economic prospects for all residents

• To improve the overall performance of key public sector services operating in the city to identify way of working more closely together to address identified community need as efficiently and effectively as possible

• To use existing public sector resources more economically and to encourage the rationalisation of non-mainstream funding, the reduction of bureaucracy, enhance community leadership and accountability of local partners

• To promote on-going dialogue with central government departments to secure the alignment of local needs and priorities with national objectives, standards and funding opportunities.

The performance measures for these targets are reported quarterly where possible to the Southampton Partnership Delivery Board. Reports on progress can be found on the Southampton Partnership web site.

For further information contact:

Henry Pavey, Strategic Partnerships Manager on 023 8083 3332 or southampton.partnership@southampton.gov.uk