www.wiltshire.gov.uk
A Flavour of Wiltshire
Essentially, a Local Area Agreement (LAA) is an agreement between Government and local areas which strikes a balance between the priorities of central government, and those of local government and their partners. These local partners include county, town, parish and district councils, district local strategic partnerships, police, fire and rescue, probation, Learning and Skills Council, health organisations, faith groups along with business and voluntary sectors and these are represented on the Wiltshire Strategic Board, which has responsibility for overseeing the LAA. In Wiltshire we intend to use the LAA to provide a clear focus for service delivery through partnership working and to help to address a number of the issues identified within the emerging Sustainable Community Strategy.
The LAA sets out a series of targets, objectives and activities for the key priorities in Wiltshire over the next three years and these will be refreshed on an annual basis. The information includes mandatory targets set by government and Local Public Service Agreement targets, as well as targets set locally. This information is then grouped by theme into blocks which identify the relevant areas of service delivery under the agreement. These include: Children and Young People, Economic Development and Enterprise, Environment, Healthy Communities, Older People and Safer and Stronger Communities
Due to national requirements, the Wiltshire LAA is a long and technical document and can be found at http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/council/wiltshire-strategic-board/local-area-agreement.htm
However, below are a number of examples which illustrate the breadth of the issues covered in the LAA and the ways in which it will be of benefit to Wiltshire’s communities.
Case study one - binge drinking
The LAA has brought agencies together to work on programmes aimed at reducing the harmful effects of excessive drinking of alcohol – often known as binge drinking. Two specific programmes are being adopted.
The first will focus on local communities who wish to develop their own programmes particularly those already experiencing alcohol related problems. The focus will be very much on support. The target is for three defined localities to have their own programme by the end of the LAA in 2009/10.
The second relates to employers who can support their employees who may have problems resulting from excessive drinking. Again, support materials including banners, leaflets and posters, as well as useful contacts and other support services will be made available. The target is for half of all the strategic board organisations to have these programmes in place by the end of 2007/8 with five other organisations (100 plus employees in total) to have completed by 2008/9 and a further five (250 plus employees) by 2009/10.
Case study two – skills for entrepreneurs
The development of the Enterprise theme of the Local Area Agreement will see an increased focus on providing effective support for the county's business owners and leaders. Wiltshire's businesses are no different to any others - they face ever increasing competition in their market-places and one of the key success factors in meeting this challenge is improving their higher level management and leadership skills. Improving access will be achieved in two ways.
The first will be through leadership and management, building capacity in the county to take full advantage of the regional programme led by the University of Exeter in conjunction with the Institute of Directors so that business leaders can learn from established best practice and their peers.
The second will be through strengthening the provision of higher education, by making better use of the existing Wiltshire college network and working with other providers to improve access to relevant, quality higher education experience in the county. This will include feasibility work into the development of a wide range of courses, delivery channels and flexible learning that reflect the challenges of a primarily rural student base and the changing demands of potential of a 21st century economy.
Case study three – supporting children and young people
One of the outcomes, under the heading of “Improve the emotional well-being of children & young people”, is concerned with there being “fewer infants with vulnerable or disordered attachment”.
This responds to research evidence that has identified the importance of the first weeks and months of a baby’s life in the formation of attachments (between infant and carers), a process that it has now been found impacts directly on early brain development.
Disordered attachment early in life is associated with conduct disorder in later years, so intervening effectively in the peri-natal period to help support and safeguard the formation of attachments is an important preventive measure with valuable long-term consequences.
The LAA effectively endorses this on a multi-agency basis and includes a number of activities aimed at reducing the number of infants for whom good attachments do not form, including improving knowledge and understanding among those who come into contact with mothers of young children and endeavouring to further develop available support young families.
Contact Details
By Post
Sharon Britton
Assistant Director, Performance & Review
County Hall
Bythesea Road
Trowbridge
Wiltshire
BA14 8JN
By Email
By Telephone
01225 713170
By Fax
01225 713092
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm
