Local Area Agreement Indicators Supported
The process of developing the new Local Area Agreement (LAA) took at step forward last Friday (14th) when the Chief Executives’ Group of the Herefordshire Partnership supported the list of 31 indicators which will be part of the next stage of the process.
The indicators cover a range of issues which are seen to be a priority for Herefordshire and have been drawn from the National Indicator Set of 198 indicators. A small number of locally defined indicators will be also be included in the final agreement which is due to be signed off my ministers in June 2008. Indicators have been identified through a series of workshops and consultation events involving members, partner organisations and the local community.
The indicators agreed by the Chief Executive's Group are attached. Local indicators are still under discussion.
Two indicators, which were in the list sent around in the last update have been dropped. These were
NI 91 - Participation of 17 years olds in education and training
The Children's Trust felt that Herefordshire already performed well in this area of work and that any improvement activities could be covered in NI 117 (16 to 18 year olds who are not in education, training or employment).
NI 175 - Access to services and facilities by public transport, walking and cycling
The measurement used for this indicator is centred on transport routes into the city and the market towns. it was felt that there was little scope for an improvement target as work in this area was already at a high level. It was also felt there was a need to consider how services could be taken out to the rural areas which was not covered by the national indicator. It was therefore agreed to develop a local indicator which would more closely reflect the priorities in Herefordshire. In this way Access to Services, which is considered to be of prime importance in a rural area, would be covered within the LAA but in a way which more accurately reflected the needs of the local community.
The Next Steps
Work will now begin with lead officers across all partner organisations to agree targets for these indicators. The Chief Executives felt strongly that targets should be challenging enough to really make a difference to the local area but also needed to be realistic and achievable within the 3-year timescale of the LAA. Some targets, where a baseline was not yet available, would be the subject of a data collection exercise before targets are agreed.
Timescale
11th April - Lead Officers to get the first cut of targets agreed with their Teams, partners and other stakeholders
13th April - 9th May - negotiation between lead officers, Government Office leads, members and partners
28th April - update on progress to be sent to the Joint Management Team (JMT)
12th May - agreed targets to go to JMT for approval
29th May - Final version of LAA to go to Cabinet for approval
30th May - Final version of LAA to go to Chief Executive's Group for approval
30th May - Final version of LAA to be sent to Government Office
If you need any further information please do not hesitate to contact either:
Richard Quallington (01684 312730), (VSA Rep on Chief Executive Group)
Chris Bucknell (01432 261789) of the Herefordshire Partnership Team,
or VSA Coordinator, Sue Black (01432 343932).
