Jamie Carpenter,
Regeneration & Renewal,
17 October 2008
Priority-setting local area agreements (Laas) between central government and local public bodies are being undermined due to the reluctance of some Whitehall departments to let their local agencies commit to the goals contained in the deals, a study says.
The report, published this week by think-tank the New Local Government Network (NLGN), says some departments "have not offered sufficient flexibility to their local arms" to allow them to play a significant role in Laa delivery.
Department for Work and Pensions guidance, for example, "steers away" local Jobcentre Plus officers from taking a lead role in Laas, the study says.
A statutory duty requiring named local public bodies to cooperate with councils to negotiate Laa targets - and to "have regard" to the targets that relate to them - was included in the recent Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act.
But NLGN director Chris Leslie told Regeneration & Renewal: "The problem with any duty is how do you enforce it? How do you define cooperation?"
He added: "We have this kind of culture where, when push comes to shove, the primary care trust or Jobcentre Plus manager, says: 'I get sacked by the people above me, not the people around me'."
The report also says that little money has so far been pooled through Laas. Until this year, it says, a total of around £500 million had been pooled annually through Laas, compared with local government's annual spend of £140 billion.
Some government programmes and initiatives are "unofficially demanding" that pooled cash is spent on their priorities, the report adds.
And it says that guidance on the new Area-Based Grant (ABG) - a pot worth £5 billion between 2008 and 2011 - has caused friction between some local partners because of uncertainties around the allocation and extent of pooled funding. It says that, as a result, many areas have decided to "ignore" the ABG.
The report recommends that Whitehall departments should "commit to the primacy of Laas". It says that the Laa should take priority where Laa delivery conflicts with other national guidelines.
It also urges the Government to require Laas to increase the size of their pooled budgets each year.
- Deal or No Deal: Delivering Laa Success is available via www.regen.net/doc
STUDY FINDINGS
- Primary care trusts: Close links between health and other local policy areas have encouraged joint working between trusts and local partners.
- Jobcentre Plus: Officers are often "steered away" from taking a lead role in Laas by Department for Work and Pensions guidance.
- Police: Positive progress, but police believe partnership working "can undermine the ability to get things done", the report says.
- Private and voluntary sectors: Report says they remain least engaged in the Laa process.
