ITEM NO.
REPORT OF THE LEADER OF THE COUNCIL
TO CABINET
24TH NOVEMBER 2004
TITLE: LOCAL PUBLIC SERVICE AGREEMENT- Second Generation (LPSA-2)
RECOMMENDATIONS:
a) That Cabinet endorses the overall framework and proposed outcomes within this report
as the basis for the initial 2nd Generation Local Public Service Agreement (LPSA-2)
submission to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on 26th November.
b) That Cabinet notes the timescale for further developing LPSA-2, which will see a final
submission containing outcomes, indicators and ‘stretched’ targets forwarded to ODPM
by the end of February 2005. Dependent on ODPM, an agreement should then be
reached to enable implementation of LPSA-2 in April 2005.
c) That Cabinet indicates if there are any priorities reflected in this report that must be
regarded as essential elements of the final submission. Currently, there are more
priorities/outcomes in this initial submission than will be required in the final submission.
d) That Cabinet considers any further opportunities to develop ‘Explorer Partnerships’ with
any particular Government Departments.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The report sets out the proposed priority areas within Salford’s 2 nd Generation Local Public
Service Agreement initial submission.
BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS:
- Building on Success, A guide to the second generation of local public service
agreements (ODPM, December 2003)
- Building on Success, A second generation of local public service agreements (LGA,
November 2003)
- The Community Plan
- Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy
- Salford City Council pledges
- BVPP Annual Review
- CPA Annual Review
- Lead Member Reports
Page 1 of 12
CONTACT OFFICERS:
Elaine Davis, Principal Strategy and Resources Officer 0161 793 3068
Paul Mckenna, Group Leader, Strategy and Resources 0161 793 3421
1.0
INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE OF THE REPORT
1.1
The purpose of this report is to set out the proposed priority areas within Salford’s 2 nd
Generation Local Public Service Agreement initial submission – to be forwarded to
ODPM by 26th November.
1.2
On 29th September, Cabinet received a report setting out the key elements of
guidance on the 2nd Generation Local Public Service Agreement together with the
timescale for submission. It indicated that:
a) The 2nd Generation LPSA carries with it many similarities to the Round 1
programme, with two key exceptions:
 The focus is now on achieving outcomes rather than outputs;
 There is now an opportunity to develop ‘Explorer Partnerships’ – a relationship
between the Authority and a specific Government Department to develop
particular aspects of the submission or remove obstacles to delivery.
1.3
In terms of similarities with LPSA Round 1, Pump-priming, Performance Reward
Grant, the identification of Freedoms and Flexibilities, and an emphasis on changing
mainstream service delivery remain key elements.
1.4
Since that time there have been a number of discussions with the The overall
timescale for submission of Salford’s LPSA-2 is as follows:
1.5
Timeframe
LPSA Progress
November 26th 2004
Initial submission of priorities to ODPM
November to December
Negotiation on priorities with ODPM
January – Feb 2005
Indicators and targets specified under each priority
and negotiated with ODPM
April 2005
LPSA II agreement
implementation.
with
ODPM
leading
to
Members should note that ODPM have indicated that whilst they will do their best to
achieve an agreement by April 2005, current negotiations with other authorities are
taking approximately 6 months to complete. If the same applies to Salford, it is likely
that our LPSA-2 agreement will not be signed until June 2005, but targets could be set
retrospectively to start from April 2005. This delay will not affect the agreement
financially as pump-priming and reward grants will still be applied at the full level.
Page 2 of 12
2.0
DETAIL OF THE REPORT
2.1
The initial submission of priorities set out in this report reflects the co-alignment of
Cabinet and LSP key priorities in terms of raising the profile/image of the City,
responsive services/increased public participation and raising ambition/aspirations.
2.2
This ‘joining-up’ of strategic priorities is an important message within the LPSA-2
submission, highlighting the progress made towards addressing some of the issues
within the first CPA assessment. The increasing importance of effective
neighbourhood management promoted by the City Council and LSP is a cross-cutting
element of the submission, with outcomes and SMART targets helping to drive
forward its profile and importance as one of the key tools towards quality service
delivery.
2.3
The framework for the initial submission is based on four themes which contain 12 key
outcomes for the next three years. From these, specific indicators and targets will be
generated at a later stage. The four themes are:
Theme One: Raising The Image And Profile Of The City – with a focus on changing
the perception of the City as a place to live and invest.
Theme Two: Raising Ambitions and Aspirations – with a focus on raising
educational attainment, improving employability, reducing health inequalities, and
promoting independence through positive intervention.
Theme Three: Narrowing the Gap in Salford West through
Neighbourhood Management – promoting a geographical focus in
delivering key services to close the gap in deprivation between the worst
performing neighbourhoods across the City. The proposed focus of this
Salford West.
effective
terms of
and best
theme is
Theme Four: Delivering responsive and effective public services – focusing on
indicators that will demonstrate the City’s commitment to putting local people at the
heart of service delivery.
2.4
All four themes are clearly inter-linked and will contain a strong neighbourhood focus,
building on the principle of ‘Narrowing the Gap’ between the worst and best
performing neighbourhoods across the City.
2.5
A number of underlying key principles will also underpin the submission:
a) That LPSA-2 will be co-aligned with priorities identified within Salford’s Community
Plan and Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy which will enable priorities and targets
to be integrated within a wider strategic performance framework;
b) That indicators and targets set should be consistent with key performance
indicators (PI’s) and priorities for Salford.
c) That activities taken forward and resources utilised should not focus on time limited
small scale interventions, but should focus on changing the way in which
mainstream services are delivered in the longer term;
Page 3 of 12
d) That key partners are actively involved in the setting, delivery and monitoring of
key priorities within the LPSA. The LSP and its seven Strategic Delivery
Partnerships will therefore play a key role in the LPSA.
e) That effective neighbourhood management is the key to improving local service
delivery and narrowing the gap between the worst and best performing
neighbourhoods.
2.6
The 12 proposed outcomes set out under each of the four themes are consistent with
the Community Plan and aligned to the 7 pledges of the council. Thus, there is a focus
on employment, education, health, crime and the cross cutting issues of inclusion,
children and young people and liveability.
2.7
Should Cabinet endorse this approach, the next stage will be to develop a series of
indicators and targets under each of the key outcomes. The submission will also need
to establish whether there are any freedoms and flexibilities required to remove
obstacles to delivery, or whether the concept of an ‘Explorer Partnership’ between a
specific Government Department and the Authority could help to progress particular
aspects identified within the submission.
3.0
THEME ONE - RAISING THE IMAGE AND PROFILE OF THE CITY
Consistent with Pledges 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7
3.1
The main outcome under this theme is to build confidence in the City to enable an
‘Increase in people choosing Salford as the city in which to live, study, work, invest
and visit’. This outcome would encompass both existing and new residents and would
serve to help reduce the perception of crime. Four key outcomes have been
developed under this theme:
3.2
Priority 1 – Reducing the overall levels of crime and disorder across the City.
Government have made a commitment through a national PSA that all authorities will
be required to reduce crime by 15% over the next three years – however, some
authorities with the highest crime levels will be required to reduce their figures by 20%.
Salford falls within this category. Salford’s Crime and Disorder Partnership has made
significant progress in recent years and during the course of the last national PSA
(2000 – 2003) Salford Division performed best of all GM divisions by reducing overall
crime by 19%. Whilst it will be challenging to maintain this performance, the Crime and
Disorder Partnership will be looking to stretch the national PSA target even further
than the 20% expected. One of the complementary outcomes associated with this will
be reduce people’s perception of crime across the City, improving confidence at
resident and investor level.
Cabinet should be aware that the Fire Authority has also requested that a Local PSA
be included under this theme focused on reducing levels of arson across the City.
There are approximately 3000 incidents of deliberate fires costing in excess of £16
million each year, and the Fire Authority wish to stretch their national PSA target
further locally. Advice from the Community Safety Unit and the Police is that this
particular priority for the Fire Service would be more appropriate for inclusion within
the Crime and Disorder Strategy 2005/08.
Page 4 of 12
3.3
Priority 2 - Improving environmental quality and maximising the use of green
space across the City.
3.31
There are two strands to this outcome:
a) The first strand is to improve levels of street cleanliness linked to the new
statistical methodology in BVPI 199 - expressed as the % of people satisfied with
the cleanliness standard in their neighbourhood. This particular issue has been a
concern in many Community Committee areas and is reflected through the Quality
of Life surveys and the MORI poll. This would have a geographical focus, targeted
at particular neighbourhoods across the City.
b) The second strand is a City-wide theme aiming to promote and increase levels of
biodiversity across the City through the creation of nature reserves. The creation
of several more Local Nature Reserves will allow the Salford to become one of the
first local authorities in the North West, if not the UK, to have its recommended
quota of hectares assigned as Local Nature Reserves.
3.32
Priority 3 - Increasing participation in cultural opportunities focused on
engaging people from disadvantaged areas and groups. The recent Best Value
Review of Culture and the CPA inspection of culture strategy and leisure have
emphasised the need to embed culture strategically in the workings and delivery of the
City Council and to increase uptake of cultural activities across the City. The
inspection identified the need to increase participation from within the black and ethnic
minority communities and asylum seekers in Salford. The aim is to focus on
increasing participation amongst people living in disadvantaged areas and from
certain community groups, including people from black and ethnic minorities and with
disabilities and young people.
3.33
Priority 4 - The final element of Theme 1 is focused on building new confidence
levels in the City and will involve analysing people’s awareness and perception
of the City as a place to live, study, work, invest and visit expressed as:






Increased awareness
Improved perceptions
Increased spend within the visitor economy
Improved housing market
Increase investment
Changing perceptions of crime
Research and baselines would be required to measure people’s awareness and
perceptions with targets set to improve these. The research would have a City-wide
and neighbourhood focus.
4.0
THEME TWO: RAISING AMBITIONS AND ASPIRATIONS
Consistent with Pledges 1, 3, 4, and 5
4.1
Many of the problems facing the city reflect the need to raise local people’s belief in
their ability to achieve and make a difference to their lives and the life of their
community. Issues such as a growing dependency culture, low levels of attainment
and aspiration reflected in education and employment achievements, high levels of
Page 5 of 12
smoking and obesity contribute significantly to the levels of deprivation felt in many
neighbourhoods.
4.2
Many of the proposed outcomes below relate directly to national floor targets and are
included as priorities within this LPSA II programme in recognition of the progress the
city must still make to aspire to national average - rather than maintain a status quo
around a national floor target. The message within this priority is about raising local
people’s individual aspirations and ambitions to improve their quality of life. Four key
outcomes have been developed:
4.3
Priority 5 – Improving educational attainment
4.31
At present there are four separate but interrelated strands that could potentially
contribute to the overall outcome, which need to be prioritised for the final submission.
These are:
a) Improving educational attainment focused on schools whose achievement falls
significantly below the National Floor Target (NFT). The focus would be on 9
schools:









Harrop Fold (Little Hulton)
St Patricks (Eccles)
Cannon Williamson (Eccles) – though this may become a City Academy
Swinton High School
Hope High School (Claremont)
Buile Hill High School (Claremont)
Albion High School
Moorside (Swinton)
Wentworth (Eccles)
b) Improving attendance levels – by engaging young people at risk of exclusion in
positive activity e.g. youth work, sport, arts development, that seeks to promote
attendance at school. School attendance in Salford is currently below the national
average at certain key stages. Young people who fail to attend school tend to have
poor achievement levels at GCSE and poor prospects for employment. They are
also more likely to engage in anti social behaviour.
c) Improving the transition and raising achievement at Key Stages 2 and 3. This
would be achieved by developing a network of Homework Help Clubs in public
libraries across the City and supporting the Time Out projects in the Youth Service,
which enable young people to re- engage with formal learning. Achievement in the
secondary phase in Salford is below the national average. Homework Help Clubs
established in the more deprived areas of the city will give young people in key
stages 2 and 3 access to ICT and book resources as well as support from
Homework Co-ordinators, thus providing an accessible environment for children
who find it hard to engage with learning in school and who have neither the
facilities nor the encouragement to study at home. Working with the Youth Service
will add value to this and provide additional out of school space.
d) Improving adult basic skills. The aim is to contribute to improved levels of
education and employability amongst the adult population by increasing the
number of adults with level one Basic Skills qualifications by 5% over 3 years.
Page 6 of 12
4.4
Priority 6 - Improving the employability of local people.
4.41
This particular priority currently contains two strands:
a) Increasing the number of unemployed people from disadvantaged groups and
communities gaining employment within the Public Sector. This builds on the
position of the Council as a major employer in the City and it’s role as an exemplar
organisation. It will focus on how the City Council and its key partners can use their
resources to facilitate transition into work, with targets linked to the Best Value
Performance Indicators relating to the diversity of the workforce.
b) To maximise opportunities for Salford residents to engage in employment and
training through inward investment and development in the City. The Salford
Construction Partnership (SCP) has been formed to specifically address difficulties
of access to construction training and employment opportunities by disadvantaged
groups/communities and aims to assist Salford residents into sustainable jobs,
generated from the investment and development in the City. In particular, the SCP
aims to harness the potential of the Housing Market Renewal construction
programme over the next 10 years.
4.5
Priority 7 - Tackling health inequalities and improving health outcomes across
the city.
4.51
There is a well-evidenced link between poor health and deprivation and this again is
highlighted in the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004. Life expectancy rates in Salford
are significantly lower than national averages with national floor targets in danger of
not being achieved. The focus will be on the ‘poorest people with poorest health in the
poorest neighbourhoods’ with two priorities containing proxy indicators linked to life
expectancy proposed:
a) The first is to reduce the prevalence of smoking in Salford in the most
disadvantaged neighbourhoods and communities in the city. Smoking is the single,
largest cause of preventable death in Salford. Smoking kills 10 people a week
locally. Salford has a significantly higher level of smoking (38%) than nationally.
b) The second priority is to halt the rise in childhood and adult obesity by increasing
levels of physical activity across Salford, focussing our actions in our most
disadvantaged areas and challenged communities. The rise in childhood and adult
obesity is a threat to the health of Salford people. National evidence suggests that
people living in disadvantaged areas, and from certain groups, including older
people, people from black and ethnic minorities and with disabilities, are not
obtaining social, health and economic benefits from participation in sport and
physical activity. The aim is to create more opportunities to support residents to
undertake lifelong participation in physical activity and overcome the barriers that
prevent these groups making sustained lifestyle behaviour change.
4.6
Priority 8 – Promoting independence and Improving the Quality of Life of
Vulnerable and Older People.
4.61
Two strands are being considered under this outcome:
Page 7 of 12
a) The first strand aims to improve the prospects, employability and quality of life for
people aged 50+ with a focus on the economically inactive and those on incapacity
benefit. The City has large numbers of economically inactive citizens coupled with
high levels of chronic ill health and depression. Only 51% of those aged 50+ are
economically active compared to 71% nationally, and over 28,200 are in receipt of
Incapacity Benefit.
b) The second strand is focused on promoting benefit take-up with People Aged 60+
through Primary Health Care. This proposal builds on existing good practice and
effective working partnerships. There is a long track record of doing take-up work
in Salford particularly in conjunction with Corporate Services Housing/Council Tax
administration. There is also a unique partnership between the City Council’s
Welfare Rights Service and the CAB in delivering advice and income maximisation
through selected GP practices and health centres with funding from the Primary
Care Trust. This proposal would take this work one step further by pro-actively
targeting those aged 60+ registered with GPs and particularly those who are not in
receipt of Housing/Council Tax Benefit.
4.7
Priority 9 - Increasing the capacity of the voluntary sector by increasing the
number of active sports volunteers and the number of voluntary sports clubs in
Salford.
4.71
The sporting infrastructure in the UK is dependant on the voluntary sports sector.
Sports and PE initiatives rely on the voluntary sports sector to provide exit routes and
pathways for children and young people to develop their sporting participation. The
role the voluntary sports sector plays adds value to communities through crime
reduction, health improvement and social cohesion. The recent Home Office report on
Social Cohesion outlines the very positive and vital role sport plays in communities.
4.72
The sporting infrastructure is dependent on volunteers. These volunteers are not only
sports coaches but include the many administration staff that are involved in
organising and managing sports clubs. Evidence on the number of sports volunteers
and number of sports clubs across the City demonstrate that there are considerable
inequalities in the provision of sporting clubs and the number of volunteers.
5
THEME THREE: NARROWING THE GAP IN SALFORD WEST THROUGH
EFFECTIVE NEIGHBOURHOOD MANAGEMENT
Consistent with all Pledges
5.1 This theme reflects a growing acceptance that the effective management of
neighbourhoods and the delivery of services tailored to local need are key to the
Government’s aim of ‘closing the gap’ between the most deprived neighbourhoods and
the rest.
5.2 There is considerable potential within the LPSA II programme to target positive change
at particular neighbourhoods. When combined with a proportion of unallocated NRF
resources from 2005 onwards, this focus could make a great deal of progress in closing
the deprivation gap between these and other less deprived areas. For LPSA-2 purposes
the focus will be on developing three priority targets within Salford West.
Page 8 of 12
5.3 For the past year, Little Hulton has benefited from being a Policing Priority Area (PPA),
which not only focuses on crime and community safety elements, but also integrates the
whole neighbourhood management agenda to deliver marked improvements in service
delivery. Issues such as environmental improvements, housing, opportunities for young
people, improved health outcomes alongside reduced crime levels have been
incorporated into an Action Plan and targets for improvements set.
5.4 The impact of this pilot has been significant and the aim now is to extend the principles
of it within other deprived neighbourhoods in Salford West based on the levels of
deprivation outlined in the IMD 2004. The plan at Annex 1 shows the extent of
deprivation across the City, and clearly shows that there remain significant pockets of
deprivation in Salford West that require significant intervention to ‘narrow the gap’.
Based on this evidence, the wards to be targeted include Little Hulton and Walkden
North, Swinton North/ South and Pendlebury, Eccles, Winton and Barton, and Irlam.
5.5 Supplemented by other local priorities and targets, the three priority LPSA-2
targets/outcomes within each of these neighbourhoods will be focused on:
a) Priority 10 - Reducing levels of low level anti-social behaviour - particularly
juvenile nuisance, which is one of the biggest problems facing both communities
and Salford’s Crime and Disorder Partnership. Working closely with partners e.g.
the police, Neighbourhood managers, community wardens, the aim is to provide
activities that engage young people in positive and diversionary activity, targeting
provision where reports of juvenile crime and nuisance are high.
b) Priority 11 – Enhancing liveability, image and environment within neighbourhoods.
The focus will be on reducing the number of empty properties through an
Innovative Enforced Sales Initiative. This particular issue will complement the
Housing Market Renewal Programme in Central Salford with joint indicators and
targets being explored with Manchester City Council. The impact of this will also
help to reduce levels of homelessness across the City. This outcome will be further
enhanced by the proposal set out at Priority 2 which will improve the overall levels
of cleanliness in particular neighbourhoods.
c) Priority 12 - Encouraging greater engagement with young people on issues that
affect their lives. The intention is to explore how children and young people can
more effectively contribute to the management of their neighbourhoods and shape
the services and facilities that affect their lives. This outcome is very much in its
development stage with further work to determine measurability required before
submission to ODPM.
6
THEME FOUR: DELIVERING RESPONSIVE AND EFFECTIVE PUBLIC SERVICES
6.1
This particular theme is wholly consistent with both the Cabinet workplan and the LSP
key theme, and is at the heart of Government’s next phase of reform – ‘Putting People
at the Heart of Public Services’.
6.2
The proposal under this theme is to focus on the ‘Think Customer’ model, the outcome
being to integrate front line customer services across organisations within the LSP to
provide a single point of contact for Salford residents. This would become Priority 13.
Page 9 of 12
6.3
This is potentially ground-breaking work that would involve examining issues around
data consent, customer consent, the need for legislative change to achieve a
successful joined-up service, and potential regionalisation of service delivery. Key
measurables would include
a) Increased service access/service take-up across all communication channels;
b) Delivery of joint customer standards across all partners;
c) Reduced complaint levels.
6.4
A further proposal being considered under this theme is to improve the co-ordination
of consultation processes across the City and across partners to reduce duplication
and avoid ‘consultation overload’. Effective and co-ordinated engagement of local
people in what matters to them will help to shape service delivery at both a City-wide
and neighbourhood level.
6.5
Cabinet should also be aware that Salford Victim and Witness Support have also
submitted a proposal to increase take-up of their services under this theme, which
essentially embraces a request to enhance staffing levels through the additional
funding that comes with LPSA. Whilst the outcome might be an increase in users
accessing the service, advice from the Community Safety Unit is that the proposal is
more appropriately embedded within the Crime and Disorder Strategy 2005/08, and
should be reflected as a key priority there, rather than the LPSA.
7.0
PRIORITISATION
7.1
The ultimate aim of the LPSA is to agree about 12/13 clear outcomes and associated
indicators/targets linked to the priorities set out in the submission. Clearly there are
potentially more outcomes in this initial submission than will be required at the final
stage. This report contains:


13 Priority Areas
21 Potential Indicators
7.2
At this stage ODPM would welcome a longer list of potential priority areas and
outcomes as this increases the probability of securing an agreement more quickly
than having just 12 and facing potential rejections. However, there will need to be
some prioritisation in the future. Cabinet is asked at this stage if there are any
priorities reflected in this report that must be regarded as essential elements of the
final submission.
8.0
EXPLORER PARTNERSHIPS
8.1
The concept of ‘Explorer Partnerships’ is being encouraged by Government and
involves a direct relationship with a Government department to progress any aspect of
work that the Authority deems necessary. It could include:
a) The City Council working with Government to pilot particular initiatives;
b) Acting as a sounding board with particular Government departments as new
policies are being developed;
Page 10 of 12
c) An exchange of officer/member expertise between Government Departments.
8.2
8.3
At present, two ‘Explorer Partnerships’ are being proposed within Salford’s initial
submission relating to:

Priority 2 - Improving environmental quality and maximising the use of green space
across the City. The proposal involves examining how other Government agencies
can help the City Council in its goal to improve biodiversity levels across the City
wherever the opportunity arises.

Priority 3 – Increasing participation in cultural opportunities. The proposal involves
working with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to develop new
methods of proving and measuring the case for ‘culture’ as a mechanism for
approaching all the LPSA themes and the Shared Priorities. This would use
forums, tracking and the advantages of Neighbourhood Management teams as a
tool. The Audit Commission, following their work on Cultural indicators and the
positive BVR of Cultural Strategy and Leisure, and the DCMS should welcome a
concentrated pilot on this.
Cabinet is asked to:
a) Comment on the proposed ‘Explorer Partnerships’ described above;
b) Consider whether there are others that might be included within the submission.
Page 11 of 12
Page 12 of 12