"more than the
sum of their parts" - partnerships seal deal to increase
economic growth
COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT News Release (171) issued by The Government News Network
on 14 July 2008
Today, seven
groups of councils and local partners are to seal their commitment
to boost economic prosperity, in recognition that they can each
achieve more than the sum of their parts - in the first set of
Multi-Area Agreements (MAAs) signed today.
In a contract with Government, councils working together with
local agencies - from Greater Manchester to the South Coast - will
get more freedoms from Whitehall in return for pledging a local,
partnership approach to boost economic growth and tackle
deprivation and financial inequalities. Freedoms include more
flexible resources on housing, pilot transport schemes, integrated
and flexible employment and skills investment and choice to
refocus national targets to increase support to businesses.
The ambition is to drive growth in local economies and to close
the gap with the top performing areas in the country through
partnerships that cross local authority boundaries - authorities,
government agencies such as Jobcentre Plus and the Learning and
Skills Council and the private and third sectors. Ultimately this
should help boost regional prosperity and help people to reach
their potential - connecting them to jobs, skills, and affordable
homes, regardless of where they live or work.
These groups of councils and local partners across the country,
or sub-regions, have stepped forward to develop their own bespoke
MAAs whether to boost capital, create more homes, or enable
employers to decide how to plug local skills gaps to reflect local
job market needs.
A purely voluntary initiative, these agreements are the result of
a new-style conversation between central and local government, and
signal the drive within sub-regions to take collective
responsibility to improve prosperity, tackle pockets of
deprivation, and create places where people want to live, work and
play. The Government has said that it is committed to work with
areas if they want to change their focus or widen their
agreement's scope and it has pledged to consider whether
there is a case for legislation to allow those who want to
formalise these arrangements.
Communities Secretary, Hazel Blears said:
"Some of the issues that make the biggest difference to
local people don't respect local boundaries. Whether
it's boosting the economy by skilling people and helping them
onto their career path, making transport work, or building the
right homes in the right places. If they want to make a big
difference, councils need to come together.
"Everyone knows that together we can achieve more than the
sum of our parts. Today's agreements - which are the first of
their kind - stand testament to that.
"Coordinating efforts can achieve better outcomes for local
people and businesses. Local areas will work shoulder-to-shoulder
to boost economic growth, tackle entrenched pockets of deprivation
and unlock their residents' potential across the area -
helping places to catch up economically.
"A better economy means a better quality of life for local
people by connecting people to training, work and homes and
through better transport. This means more choice and less
compromise so people can do this in a way that mirrors they way
they live their life - instead of mirroring their local authority boundary".
The first seven MAAs - with tailored approaches and stretching
targets for their area - are the start of a long-term relationship
between Government and sub-regions which will see other agreements
signed over the next year. They come a year since the publication
of the Sub-National Review.
Local Government Association Vice Chairman, Sir Jeremy Beecham said:
"MAAs have the potential to be a stepping stone to genuine
devolution of powers and funding. They will allow councils, local
partners and government agencies to work together to challenge the
artificial limits of boundaries.
"The diversity of the issues tackled in the first MAAs
reflect the critical importance of local priorities. Some of the
issues identified, such as the need to tackle worklessness across
a geographic area that more realistically reflects the local
labour market will bring real improvements for local people.
"The wide geographical spread of the first seven areas, and
the fact that all types of councils are represented shows that
MAAs can be flexible enough to appeal to all areas.
"The challenge now is to turn the commitments in these first
MAAs into action and to work with other areas interested in
developing their own agreements. Other areas will be encouraged
by the potential benefits for local people that these first
agreements set out to achieve."
Work and Pensions Secretary, James Purnell said:
"We know that work is the best route out of poverty which is
why we are proposing radical changes to the welfare system to help
everyone who is able to work get back to work. Multi-Area
Agreements provide an important opportunity to devolve power to
communities. We want to empower those working at the local level
to take the lead in providing employment and skills services that
are tailored to local needs. This will ensure disadvantaged people
in some of our most deprived areas are able to take advantage of
the opportunities available to find and progress in work."
Notes to editors
1. A signing ceremony will be held in London this afternoon (14
July) for each of these sub regions - which Communities Secretary
Hazel Blears and Work and Pensions Secretary, James Purnell, Local
Government Minister, John Healey, and other Government Ministers
will attend.
2. The seven Multi Area Agreements to be signed today are:-
* Tees Valley - Darlington, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland,
Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees. The MAA covers physical
regeneration, transport and housing renewal and growth. Targets
include reducing the gap in GVA between Tees Valley and the rest
of the region and improving the quality of the housing stock and
growing local housing markets.
* Greater Manchester - Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham,
Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan. The focus
is on maximising the benefits of greater integration between
employment support and skills provision. Priority targets:
employment, skills and raising wage income.
* South Yorkshire - Sheffield, Doncaster, Rotherham and Barnsley
- Their initial MAA is focused on growing local housing markets
and housing renewal. Targets are included on both, building on the
work undertaken to date as part of the Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder.
* Leeds City Region - Barnsley, Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees,
Leeds, Wakefield, York, (Unitaries) North Yorkshire (County),
Selby, Craven and Harrogate (Districts). Leeds City Region is
prioritising Transport and Skills with a focus on how best local
people can be connected to learning and employment opportunities.
Targets include increasing employment and increasing GVA
* Partnership for Urban South Hampshire - Hampshire (County)
Portsmouth, Southampton (Unitary) East Hampshire, Eastleigh,
Fareham, Gosport, Havant, New Forest, Test Valley, Winchester
(Districts). Focus is on employment and skills, housing, transport
and skills. The transport priorities will deliver a seamless
management system for the area's roads which will lead to
better planning and delivery of transport priorities across the area.
* Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole Bournemouth and Poole
(Unitaries), Dorset (County) and the Christchurch Council, East
Dorset, North Dorset, Purbeck, West Dorset, Weymouth and Portland
(Districts) - The three main priorities are skills, transport and
sustainable growth. Targets include increasing the GVA per
employee and increasing the proportion of the population with
university level skills.
* Tyne and Wear - Gateshead Council, Newcastle City Council,
North Tyneside Council, South Tyneside Council, Sunderland City
Council, Durham County Council, Northumberland County Council. Key
themes are employment, skills - levels 1 to 4 and transport.
Targets include reducing the number of people on out of work
benefits and congestion time per mile. The agreement heralds a new
approach to the delivery of key priorities in the sub-region, in
particular tackling the most acute pockets of deprivation in the area.
3. The Sub National Review (SNR) set out the Government's
commitment to reduce economic inequalities between and within
regions by tackling the most pressing economic challenges where
they occur - nationally, regionally or locally and committed
Government to work with local authorities to develop the first MAAs.
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