Local Area Agreements consigned to history

Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles has announced ahead of the Spending Review that Local Area Agreements are being dropped. Presented as the abolition of 4,700 centrally driven targets, the Minister said that this would leave local areas in control of their own delivery targets, free to focus on protecting frontline services, answering to residents.

National Indicators used to monitor council performance will be replaced with an agreed single list of Whitehall data requirements for local government. Mr Pickles repeated his message that transparency, productivity and innovation must be the watchwords for council business from here on in.