To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to change the arrangements for local area agreements. (152852)

The Local Government White Paper “Strong and Prosperous Communities” put local area agreements (LAAs) at the heart of the new performance framework for local government.

From 2008 new LAAs will be the only means by which central Government can agree targets for those outcomes delivered by local government alone or in partnership, drawn from the new national indicator set.

Further information on the new arrangements for LAAs can be found in the publication “Developing the future arrangements for Local Area Agreements” on the Communities and Local Government website at:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1506327.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the reasons for the time taken for signing off local area agreements. (152937)

New local area agreements will cover the period April 2008 to March 2011 in line with the new public service agreement (PSA) framework. Targets in the new agreements will be drawn from the national indicator set to be published following the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 in the autumn.