A Local Area Agreement (LAA) is a three year delivery contract between central government and local partners to address the priorities in a local area. The LAA is developed by the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP), in discussion with stakeholders, including the private and third sectors.
Cross-border economic development issues can be tackled through a voluntary Multi-Area Agreement (MAA). MAAs can have a longer duration than LAAs.
LAAs and MAAs were launched to enable local authorities to be more responsive to the needs of their area through stronger partnership. They bring partners together to improve delivery at the local level, tackling any deep-rooted problems that are holding an area back, addressing wider concerns such as climate change, or helping to grasp opportunities. The principle is that by focusing our collective activities and investments on a smaller number of local priorities, underpinned by strong evidence and community engagement, better results can be achieved for the local area. Through LAAs and MAAs, Government is also seeking to build a new relationship between Central and Local Government, with more emphasis on local solutions to fit local circumstances.
This year, every LAA is being substantially reworked to reflect a new set of National Indicators, and a renewed emphasis on partnership. The new LAA will include up to 35 indicators from the new National Indicator Set. Partners will also be able to set their own local indicators and targets to tackle more specific priorities. Under the recent Local Government Act, LAAs now have statutory status, and partners have statutory duties to participate. The region's first MAAs are currently being developed in Bournemouth, Dorset, Poole and West of England (the Bristol and Bath city region).
Over the past eighteen months, the South West RDA has been reviewing and developing its approach to local engagement, including LAAs, with the aim of increasing our engagement with the LAA and MAA agenda and grasping the economic opportunities they present. During this time, the Local Government White Paper and Sub National Review of Economic Development and Regeneration have dramatically raised the profile of LAAs and MAAs, and could result in a strengthened local authority role in economic development. We see LAAs as a further opportunity to work with local and regional partners to ensure we are all pulling in the same direction, joining up our efforts to achieve more and thus helping localities and the region to achieve strategic ambitions.
LAAs are about getting the balance right between local, regional and national priorities. They provide one of the key mechanisms for the local delivery of regional priorities identified in the Regional Economic Strategy (RES) or Single Regional Strategy (SRS). In turn, we also need to ensure the local priorities in LAAs and MAAs feed back into the development of the next regional strategy.
That said, Government does not expect LAAs and MAAs to cover everything that local authorities or their partners do. Therefore, the development and delivery of LAA targets will not be the only thing the RDA will be involved with or invest in at a local level.
In engaging with the development of the LAA or MAA, we are keen to encourage local partnerships to adopt a suitable spread of indicators that tackle the most critical issues facing the area's economy (as shown by robust evidence), and contribute to delivering regional strategies. The resulting package of indicators is likely to include a mix of National Indicators and locally-determined ones, and may cross several of the traditional "blocks" of the LAA.
Reflecting the sub-regional nature of many economic issues, we are particularly keen to promote cross-boundary working, including MAAs. We are also keen to ensure that Sub-Regional Economic Partnerships, the private sector and the voluntary and community sector are involved in the discussions. The RDA's engagement with individual LAAs and MAAs is through our Area Teams (see attached), who work with Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs), Strategic Economic Partnerships (SEPs) and local working groups to support the development and negotiation of the priorities, indicators and targets.
The RDA has some engagement with every LAA. Indeed, we now have a statutory duty to do so. The extent of that engagement is shaped by our spatial priorities as set out in our Draft Corporate Plan, and through discussions with local partners about the input they would welcome from us. We are particularly involved in the development of the region's two MAAs as these both have a strong economic development focus.
We are keen to be full partners from the beginning, sharing our data and experience, contributing to discussions to identify issues and priorities, ensure alignment with regional strategies and agree appropriate interventions and delivery mechanisms.
We have also developed a programme of joint working with Government Office and the Regional Assembly to provide strong regional leadership on the economic development element of LAAs. We aim to keep an overview of the LAAs and MAAs emerging across the region to ensure they support the local delivery of regional strategies. We are keen to promote good practice and encourage networking and cross-boundary working. Regional joint workstreams with Government Office to support LAAs and MAAs include work to strengthen the shared evidence base and support local capacity. The RDA is encouraging areas to adopt a suitable spread of indicators for their LAA or MAA that tackle the most critical issues facing the area's economy (as shown by robust evidence), and contribute to delivering the RES or Single Regional Strategy. The resulting package of indicators is likely to include a mix of National Indicators and locally-determined ones.
As part of the discussion about priorities for the Sustainable Community Strategy and Local Area Agreement, the RDA will encourage areas to consider cross-cutting issues such as economic inclusion, climate change, and the challenges facing rural areas.
Many of the RDA's RES-related activities and investments also support the aims of individual LAAs and MAAs. We are also supporting delivery of LAAs and MAAs through our funding of sub-regional Strategic Economic Partnerships.
In respect of direct investment to support specific LAA and MAA priorities and targets, the RDA will consider proposals on a case by case basis, considering the fit with its own corporate plan and investment priorities, the fit with the RES or Single Regional Strategy, the aims of Business Support Simplification, and having regard to the priorities being put forward by other areas. In doing so, we will wish to review the evidence base and understand the issues underlying the request for support in order to ensure that the most appropriate interventions are implemented, drawing on what mechanisms and delivery models have worked well in the past.
In many cases, the RDA will not be the only potential source of funds, nor should delivery of targets necessarily rely on RDA input and activity alone - other LSP members and other relevant partners, including the private and third sectors, may also have an interest, and the possibilities for European funding, including RDPE, and other potential sources such as lottery funding, should also be considered.
That said, LAA targets will not be the only things that the RDA supports or invests in. The scope and intensity of RDA investment will reflect our corporate priorities, and it is likely that there will always be some regional priorities that will not be picked up in individual LAAs, either because they do not rely on partnership delivery or because, whilst strategically significant at a regional level, they do not appear so critical in any one single location. We also need to remain fleet of foot to respond to new crises or issues that require a rapid response. Click to download further information:
Translating the RES into potential LAA and MAA content (Adobe Acrobat Reader Document - 73.94kb)
RDA LAA and MAA Contacts (Adobe Acrobat Reader Document - 34.09kb)
For more information about the South West RDA's engagement with LAAs and MAAs, contact Alice Darley, External Relations Manager, Tel: 0117 9330236. | 
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