To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether local area agreements are required to include provisions on ring-fenced funding for projects which used to be funded through the Children’s Fund for Youth Inclusion Projects; and what other arrangements her Department has put in place for the future funding of such projects. (180377)

From April 2008, no funding streams will be directly linked to local area agreements (LAAs). Local partners are responsible for collectively agreeing how they will resource delivery of their LAA priorities from their mainstream funding, including by aligning or pooling resources where it makes sense to do so.

The Government are maximising local authorities’ freedom to target their resources on what matters most to local people, including their LAA priorities, by moving over £5 billion of former specific grants such as the Children’s Fund into non-ringfenced general grants (either Revenue Support Grant or the new Area Based Grant) over the comprehensive spending review period.

Under the new arrangements, the Government will continue to allocate funding to local authorities where there is a recognised need for additional support for preventative services for children aged five to 13. However, it will be paid as part of the non-ringfenced Area Based Grant from April 2008, so local authorities will be free to decide how best to use the resources to support local priorities.