Convention Report: Local Area Agreement

Hazel Blears, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, had said "2008 will be a watershed year for Britain's local democracy... the year in which the mature relationship between central and local government... becomes reality. This means greater discretion for councils to put the governing back into local government: not just administering services, but thinking strategically about what local people want and need."

As Wakefield District was in the process of developing its new Local Area Agreement, (LAA), it was seen as crucial to organise an event so that local people could find out more and have a direct input into the discussions on priorities. As a result ninety people attended the Convention on Wakefield's Local Area Agreement in February.

Peter Turgoose, Partnerships and Performance, Wakefield Metropolitan District Council, gave a presentation on the LAA Overview including the new agenda, what the LAA is, its outcomes and performance, a review of the LAA and the opportunity to take stock and ensure that the revised LAA captures what we feel are the most important priorities for our communities; that we include the things that make communities sustainable; and that we look to ways of raising aspirations and influence attitudes and behaviours in line with Wakefield District's Community Strategy.

Julie Wilkes, Chief Executive Voluntary Action Wakefield District, presented on building the conditions for a thriving Voluntary and Community Sector in Wakefield and Tony Dean, Chief Officer of VOX, presented on "Is Empowerment still on the Agenda?" looking at how we inspire people and the benefits of empowering people and communities.

Workshops and discussions were held on the three themes of Healthier Communities, Safer and Stronger Communities and Skills, Work and Enterprise (Wakefield District's three Thematic Partnerships) and looked at what was in the existing LAA, what was working and what was missing? The subject matter and information on indicators and performance was complex and unfortunately was only available on the day because it had been produced a few days prior to the event. As a result some of the discussions were hard going with some knowing a lot more than others. However, approximately 80 different useful points on what people felt had or hadn't worked were fed back to Partnerships and Performance at Wakefield Metropolitan District Council and into the discussions reviewing the Agreement.

People mentioned positives as including the work of the Neighbourhood Policing Teams; cleaner greener spaces through clear up projects and the tackling of environmental issues; improvements in health through 5-a-day campaigns, healthy walks and allotment schemes; more young people gaining five or more A-C passes; and effective partnership working in general, amongst others. With regards to what was not working or missing they raised the following: low staying on rates in education; a lack of commitment from the business community; cleanliness in City and Town centres; parental aspirations and skills; and inequalities across the District with regards to health, skills and worklessness.

Overall 75% of those who attended and evaluated the event said they now knew more about the LAA as a result.