HC Deb 07 January 2004 vol 416 cc401-2W
Mr. Steen

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many area partnerships have been established in England; what their terms of reference are; and what funding has been awarded to each partnership, broken down by(a) county council, (b) district council, (c) town or parish council, (d) regional development agency, (e) market and coastal towns initiative and (f) other sources of funding.[145817]

Yvette Cooper

The key partnership in any area is the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP). A survey in summer 2002, as part of the Government's research into LSPs, showed that the vast majority of areas, at county and district local authority level, either had an LSP in place or were in the process of forming one. There are now approximately 365 LSPs across England

LSPs must include representatives from and reflect an appropriate balance between the public sector including local authorities and other public services, and private, voluntary and community sectors. LSPs will operate by consensus, in order to reflect and retain the buy-in of partners

The Government guidance, published in March 2001. states that it will be for local partners to decide the full range of work of their LSP. However, it does set out four core tasks Prepare and implement a community strategy for the area Bring together local plans, partnerships and initiatives to provide a forum through which mainstream public service providers work effectively together to meet local needs and priorities Work with local authorities that are developing a local public service agreement to help devise and then meet suitable targets Develop and deliver a local neighbourhood renewal strategy (in the 88 districts receiving Neighbourhood Renewal Fund)

LSPs are not statutory bodies and as such do not receive funding directly. However the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF) enables the 88 most deprived authorities, in collaboration with their Local Strategic Partnership (LSP), to improve services, narrowing the gap between deprived areas and the rest of England. £1,875,000 has been allocated for the period 2001 to 2006 and a full breakdown by local authority district is available

More generally LSPs will work collaboratively with and through partners to access sources of funding to meet local needs