Written question asked by John Bercow (Conservative) on Thursday, 23 April 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 27 April 2009. It was answered by Sadiq Khan (Labour) on Tuesday, 5 May 2009 on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Local Area Agreements

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment she has made of (a) the level of progress achieved in the roll-out and (b) the effectiveness of the Local Area Agreement framework.

Answer: Communities and Local Government has commissioned a long-term evaluation of local area agreements (LAAs) and local strategic partnerships (LSPs). Early findings published late last year indicated that the new local performance framework has been broadly welcomed, though concluded that it was difficult to attribute improvements directly to the new framework at this early stage. A forthcoming report from the evaluation provides further evidence that the new LAAs are generating greater focus and improved partnership working at the local level.The earlier report is available at:"http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/localgovernment/laalspevaluationcasestudies"The forthcoming report will be made available later this month at:"www.communities.gov.uk"Comprehensive area assessment, due to start reporting from November 2009, will include the first formal assessment of the progress areas are making against LAA targets. A review of local areas' initial efforts to prepare for LAA delivery was carried out by Government offices earlier this year indicated that the new framework was progressing well, with the vast majority of areas strengthening their partnership and delivery arrangements to enhance their ability to meet their new targets.

Secondary information