§ The Minister for Local Government and the Regions (Mr. Nick Raynsford)Following a successful pilot exercise, I am pleased to announce that the Government has signed a further 49 Local Public Service Agreements (LPSAs) with individual councils, and that we hope to conclude Agreements with another 35 councils by the end of March.
I am today laying before this House a special grant report which seeks approval for pump-priming grants totalling £93 million which will help these councils to deliver their challenging LPSA targets to further improve their local services.