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Paper 8 -  16 July 2004 Meeting

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That the Association agrees the themes and issues, as outlined in the attached document, for developing a "second generation Local Public Service Agreement" for Hampshire.
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1. The guidelines the for second generation Local Public Service Agreements (LPSAs) make significant changes to the rules and procedures which are welcomed:

- Local - There are no requirements for national targets. LPSA2 should reflect the priorities of the local strategic partnership and community strategy, CPA outcomes and local performance information. This must be evidenced.

- Partners - Government will not agree LPSAs with County Councils without the involvement of those Districts who are willing to be involved. There is also the expectation that other public sector agencies, community and voluntary sectors and Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) will be partners. The LPSA will still formally be an agreement between the Government and the County Council.

- Government - Government departments are committed to greater involvement with potential for local arms of government and the opportunity for ‘explorer’ partnerships where Government works alongside local authorities on specific targets.

- LPSA 2 retains the same system for pump priming and a potential award grant of 2½% of budget.

PROCESS

2. The process for LPSA2 is longer with two main stages:

Stage One:

- agree desired improvement priorities and outcomes with partners as framework for LPSA2
- agree framework with Government (ODPM) by end July.

Stage Two:

Once agreed, this framework document sets the basis for developing the detailed LPSA targets by November for the start of the negotiations on performance and stretch. This more detailed work will include:

- developing indicators to measure outcomes for priority areas to be targeted, including data collection issues
- agreeing indicators with Government
- agreeing performance targets with Government
- agreeing how Government will work in partnership

3. The basis of the agreement will still be a negotiated assessment of performance without LPSA2 and the stretch which will be achieved through LPSA2.

PROGRESS TO DATE

4. Consultation has taken place with all District Councils and a working group formed of representatives from districts, the county council and the voluntary sector. District Councils have undertaken to involve LSPs in the process and the County Council has discussed priorities with the Hampshire Strategic Partnership. Other partners are now to be involved in more detailed discussions. 5. Following agreement that the initial framework document should be based around the four key themes of the Hampshire Community Strategy, particularly where these reflect the key priorities from district level LSPs, working groups, led by district councils (Basingstoke & Deane, Rushmoor, Havant and Eastleigh), met to refine a structure for the LPSA and to start to identify the key improvement priorities, issues, and therefore potential targets, for inclusion in the LPSA. 6. The ODPM has confirmed it is expecting LPSA2 targets to be outcome-focused. This means that the partnership will be measured on indicators that are not directly related to the process of delivery of services but on the beneficial outcomes that people would expect the public sector to deliver. This will require a different approach from LPSA1 and will need further work by the partners over the months until detailed submission in November.

7. The result of the discussions to date are shown in the Annex to this report. This draft framework identifies four main headline improvement priorities, each with two or three areas of focus for potential action and investment. Outcome targets have been identified at the headline level only at this stage and the work needed will identify the more detailed targets and the indicators to measure these targets. The group also acknowledges that the final framework will need to be presented in a cross cutting way and demonstrate the impact of issues such as accessibility, equalities and sustainability on the target areas. This further work will also need to reflect the geographical or specific community target group emphasis for the targets as necessary.

8. Four working groups have now been set up to develop outcome targets and indicators for each headline priority. It is important that all interested parties are fully involved in these working groups to ensure their priorities are brought into the discussions and reflected as appropriate in the detailed LPSA document. There will also be a group considering accessibility issues and the HIOW Strategic Housing Officers’ Group has been asked to look at possible targets for housing. A fifth group, led by the County Council, will look in more detail at management issues.9. It is proposed that this framework document forms the basis of the Hampshire submission to the ODPM in July.

Date: 29 June 2004
Annex: 1
Contact: Jill Lovelock, Tel.01963 847591, jill.lovelock@hants.gov.uk
Paddy Hillary, Tel. 01962 847391, paddy.hillary@hants.gov.uk

Increase the employment rates of disadvantaged groups and areas and significantly reduce the difference between their employment rates and the overall rate.

Reduce anti social behaviour

Community Wardens - ? infrastructure?

Improving the health of the people of Hampshire and increasing participation in local communities

*Could be explorer partnership

Main Priority 4: [Sustain] Hampshire’s Unique Environment
Maintaining the quality and environmental balance between rural and urban areas and making best use of natural resources

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