Monday, September 24, 2007

waiting for Hazel


It's a big day for local government this morning.

Hazel Blears is due to address the Labour conference with her ambitions within her government portfolio of Communities & Local Governance.

New Local Area Agreements are being re-re-launched again. It's the third time that we have had a launch, so I am counting on Gordon keeping Hazel in place long enough to deliver.

The Best Value Performance Indicator measurements are being dumped and replaced with 200 broad targets supplied by Whitehall for all local authorities to measure, with up to 35 of these targets selected to stretch our ambitions.

Along with these 35 will be 17 statutory targets for Childrens Services (incl Education, NEET, etc). Then add the mandatory targets that were imposed on us in the 2007 LAA refresh, plus any local indicators which are specific to our own localities. I think the list could be closer to 70.

It's my job at the Borough Council to ensure all partners in the police, health authority, voluntary and community sector negotiate these top 35 targets in Swindon. I also have to ensure these targets all line up to what the Swindon community want, which is another exercise I have been party to. Indeed, if you are a Swindon resident, or just interested in Swindon - why not take the survey yourself at the Local Strategic Partnership website.

So today is an important day... over to you to shine some light on the subject, Hazel.

1 comment:

Matthew of Sunny Swindon said...

I should have known better of course!

Hazel revealed nothing new in her speech to the Labout faithful about LAAs except some optimistic hopes for full employment, happy contented communities and sunshine!

I will have to wait for Communities & Local Government to reveal all at a later date.