§ Mrs. LawrenceTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what progress is being made in concluding local Public Service Agreements. [160198]
§ Ms ArmstrongWe have today concluded a third group of local Public Service Agreements (PSAs). The agreements are with the following authorities: Camden, Coventry and Newham. The three signed today, taken together with recent signatories Milton Keynes, Newcastle and Surrey, mean that local PSAs have now been signed with all the 20 authorities that took part in the pilot scheme announced last summer.
Local PSAs will enable councils to deliver even greater improvements in services for local people. The targets set by councils have a direct impact on communities—from initiatives to tackle drug abuse among young people, dealing with abandoned vehicles, to strategies to reduce the number of deaths on the roads. We will be working with the pilot authorities and others to make them a success, and to roll out local PSAs to other upper-tier authorities over the next two years.