During the event at Newmarket Racecourse, the Minister thanked the Local Strategic Partnerships, which are made up of local authorities, police, fire and health services, for their success in establishing their Local Area Agreements.
These agreements set out up to 35 agreed priorities, developed in consultation with local communities, which the groups will work together to achieve over the coming years.
Speaking at the event, Barbara Follett said:
"I am delighted that partners from across the Eastern Region have now established the key priorities for their local communities. This marks the beginning of a new, and I hope more focused phase in the delivery of public services in the East of England. I know a lot of hard work has gone into getting these priorities right and I look forward to working with all of those involved to ensure their effective delivery."
Local Area Agreements are part of the new performance framework that seeks to empower local people and involves comprehensive area inspection that looks at services across the whole of local public sector.
Hazel Blears MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said:
"Local priorities mean that councils and their partners can concentrate their efforts on the specific needs of the local people they serve. The prizes are enormous: better, more locally relevant public services, a higher quality of life and ultimately more prosperity in communities across the country.
"If knowledge is power, then this is more power to local people. They will be able to see exactly what local government and service providers plan to do in their area, check out how well they are doing, and ask questions if they have not delivered. This means less red tape and more freedom for local authorities to deliver what local people want.
Local people will be able to follow their council's progress and check how well they are doing by going online at www.localpriorities.communities.gov.uk. Progress will be tracked by independent auditors and results published, so any need for improvement can be identified quickly and local authorities and service providers be held to account by local people.
The top 20 priorities across the East of England are:
|
Name of priority |
Number of local areas choosing priority
(total areas: 10) |
|
Adult participation in sport and active recreation |
9 |
|
Obesity among primary school age children in Year 6 |
9 |
|
Stopping smoking |
9 |
|
Net additional homes provided |
9 |
|
Proportion of population aged 19-64 for males and 19-59 for females qualified to at least Level 2 or higher |
9 |
|
Effectiveness of child and adolescent mental health (CAMHs) services |
8 |
|
Under 18 conception rate |
8 |
|
Planning to adapt to climate change |
8 |
|
% of people who believe people from different backgrounds get on well together in their local area |
7 |
|
% of people who feel they can influence decisions in their locality |
7 |
|
Repeat incidents of domestic violence |
7 |
|
Young people's participation in positive activities |
7 |
|
First time entrants to the Youth Justice System aged 10 - 17 |
7 |
|
16 to 18 year olds who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) |
7 |
|
All-age all cause mortality rate |
7 |
|
Working age people on out of work benefits |
7 |
|
Per capita reduction in CO2 emissions in the LA area |
7 |
|
Percentage of municipal waste landfilled |
7 |
|
Perceptions of anti-social behaviour |
6 |
|
Re-offending rate of prolific and other priority offenders |
6 |
