More agreements get local go-ahead

The government is to more than double the number of councils to
trial local area agreements.

When announced initially by local government minister Nick
Raynsford in July, LAAs were to be piloted in just nine areas. But
due to the high level of interest, they will now be trialled by 21
councils, including some lower-tier ones.

LAAs give new flexibilities to councils to pool revenue streams
from different government departments to spend on local
priorities.

The pilots will begin next year with a view to being rolled out
across the rest of England by 2007.

• For a full list of LAA pilots go to
  www.communitycare.co.uk