Improving our Communities

Local Area Agreement for North Somerset

2007-2010

Contents

Part A: Background

3 North Somerset Context

4 North Somerset Community Strategy and the Local Area Agreement

4 The Community Strategy

4 Delivering the priority objectives

10 Emerging Sustainable Community Strategy

11 Making a real difference to people’s lives

13 Making it our Local Area Agreement

13 Themes within the Local Area Agreement

15 Cross cutting issues identified

15 Sustainability

20 Equality and Diversity

22 Transport

23 Housing

24 Developing our Local Area Agreement

24 Statement of Community Involvement

24 Project Management

26 Governance arrangements

26 Role of partner organisations

27 Role of NSP Delivery Partnerships

27 Role of the LAA Performance Monitoring Group

28 Role of the NSP Board and NSP Local Area Agreement Group

28 Role of the accountable body

29 Data collection

30 Ensuring data quality

30 Implementing the governance arrangements

32 Allocation of the Pump Priming Grant and Performance Reward Grant

Part B: LAA Blocks

35 Children and Young People

38 Economic Development and Enterprise

41 Healthier Communities and Older People

44 Safer and Stronger Communities

Part C: Appendices

48 Appendix One: Outcome tables

49 Children and Young People

56 Economic Development and Enterprise

60 Healthier Communities and Older People

72 Safer and Stronger Communities

85 Appendix Two: Consultation Activities

90 Appendix Three: Making the LAA Equality Statement a Reality
Part A: Background

North Somerset Context

North Somerset covers an area of around 145 square miles and has a resident population of 193,000 (1.4% BME) living in 85,000 households. The district lies within the West of England sub-region which includes South Gloucestershire, Bath and North East Somerset and Bristol City. The sub region has around 1 million residents and provides approximately 500,000 jobs. Forecasts suggest that by 2026 the sub-regions population could grow by up to 190,000. The sub-region contributes significantly to the economy of the south west with Bristol International Airport and the Port of Bristol (both within North Somerset’s boundaries) acting as gateways for the region.

The population of North Somerset has doubled since the 1950s and is forecast to grow by 8% over the next decade. Despite this population increase more than two thirds of the area is rural with the major towns being Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon, Portishead and Nailsea. But to portray North Somerset as some rural idyll belies its complexity and the challenges the area faces. Despite low unemployment and a relatively prosperous community 36% of our earners commute out of the area each day, and as a result spend a significant proportion of their earnings outside of the area. This impacts significantly upon the local economy. There are also significant pockets of deprivation. Two wards within Weston-super-Mare fall within the 10% most deprived in England.

Affordable housing is a key pressure, and a particular issue for young people in the area. Homelessness also continues to be a significant local problem. The age structure also differs from the national average with people over 60 accounting for 25% of the population compared to the national average of 21%. This has an impact on the services we provide. There are also significant health inequalities with people living in some of our more affluent areas expected to live 6.5 years longer than those in our most deprived areas.

Weston-super-Mare is our biggest town and like many Victorian seaside resorts has experienced a period of decline. The town has a large number of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) and is home to an estimated 11% of England’s rehabilitation bed spaces for drug and alcohol misuse. Statistics show HMO tenants are more likely to commit crime and this sector of the community requires a high level of support from local service providers.

Although crime is relatively low, we face a challenge in reducing rising levels of violence and criminal damage. In 2003-04 violent crime accounted for 19% of all crime in North Somerset.
North Somerset Community Strategy and the Local Area Agreement

The Community Strategy

The North Somerset Community Strategy was agreed in 2004 by the North Somerset Partnership, which consists of a range of organisations from the public, private and voluntary/community sector. This strategy sets out how we will improve the quality of life for people living and working within North Somerset.

The objectives within the document are focused on achieving the North Somerset vision which states that by 2025 we will ensure:

“That North Somerset is a place of safe, healthy, thriving communities. By working together we aim to improve quality of life and well-being of all, creating an inclusive, sustainable district, where local people have a real say in the decisions that affect them and future generations.”

The strategy identifies 24 long term objectives we are focusing on. Whilst each objective represents a key policy area that needs to be improved, we have highlighted six long term objectives as being of a particularly high priority. These are:

• Reducing crime, the fear of crime and anti-social behaviour and increase community safety
• Improving the range of arts, entertainment, recreational and cultural opportunities
• Improving the economic sustainability of North Somerset
• Improving the health and well-being of the population of North Somerset as well as addressing health inequalities
• Ensuring that North Somerset has an appropriate range of private and social housing provision to meet need
• Improving the range and choice of transport in the area as well as reducing congestion

Delivering the priority objectives

Much work is already underway to deliver the objectives set out in the Community Strategy. Delivery Partnerships are in place, overseeing a series of projects to deliver improvements in these priority objectives.

However we felt that the Local Area Agreement provides an opportunity to build on this work. Therefore, the selection of outcomes and performance indicators within this agreement has been guided by these six priority objectives. This will ensure that the issues of most importance to our communities receive additional focus/resources over the next three years by the Partnership. This in turn will help us to deliver more improvements in a shorter space of time through:

• Greater financial resources through the pump priming grant and performance reward grant
• Better services/service delivery through improved joint working arrangements

Figure one below shows how the outcomes and performance indicators within this agreement link to the six priority objectives in the Community Strategy. The outcomes are also colour coded to set out which block they sit in within the Local Area Agreement:

Red: Children and Young People

Black: Economic Development and Enterprise

Blue: Healthier Communities and Older People

Green: Safer and Stronger

The areas where we will be seeking stretching performance over the next three years are in bold and underlined.

Figure 1: Delivering the Community Strategy Priority Objectives through the Local Are Agreement

The previous diagram highlights how each of the performance indicators within the agreement relate to the priority objectives within the Community Strategy. As you can see all priority objectives are addressed in some way through the Local Area Agreement.

However, five of the agreements areas of focus (waste, recycling, energy efficiency, bio-diversity and carbon reduction) do not directly relate to the six priority objectives. Two of these areas (waste and recycling) are required by central government. Despite this prescription from central government they do still contribute to the Community Strategy as one of the objectives within the document sets out an objective to, “maintain and protect the quality of our built and natural environment and encourage education in more environmentally friendly living.” The other three areas (bio-diversity, energy efficiency and carbon reduction were included as they contribute to the creation of sustainable communities (this is discussed in more detail on page 15).

Figure 2 below sets out in more detail the outcomes our LAA will be focusing on along with the key strategies, documents and consultation activities that have guided the selection of our outcomes.

Figure 2: LAA Outcomes and Key Drivers

LAA Block	Children and young people	Economic development and enterprise	Healthier communities and older people	Safer and stronger communities
LAA Outcomes	· Be healthy · Stay safe · Achieve economic well-being · Enjoy and achieve	· Increasing skills · Increasing enterprise · Increase employment · Reduce congestion	· Improve health of people in North Somerset and reduce health inequalities · Reduce alcohol abuse · Increase choice and control · Improve the quality of life for older people · Increase personal dignity · Improve quality of life · Achieve economic well-being · Develop social capital and reduce social isolation	· Reduce crime · Reassure the public reducing the fear of crime · Reduce the harm caused by illegal drugs · Build respect in communities and reduce anti-social behaviour · Empower local people to have a greater choice and influence our local decision making and a greater role in public service delivery · Cleaner, greener and safer public spaces · Reduce waste to landfill and increase recycling · Tackling climate change through reduced greenhouse gas emissions · Increased access to and enjoyment of green spaces and the countryside · Improve quality of life for people in most disadvantaged neighbourhood; service providers more responsive to neighbourhood needs and improved service delivery · Increase domestic fire safety and reduce arson
Key strategies and drivers	· North Somerset Community Strategy 2004-2025 · Single Plan for Children and Young People 2006-2009 · North Somerset Council Corporate Plan 2005-2008 · Active and Healthy Lifestyles Strategy · Joint Area Review 2006 · Play Strategy · North Somerset 14-19 Strategy 2004-2007 · CPA Inspection 2006 · LAA Older People Focus Groups · Consultation activities for the Single Plan for Children and Young People · Sustainable Community Strategy consultation	· North Somerset Community Strategy 2004-2025 · Economic Development and Regeneration Strategy 2006-2016 · Regional Economic Development Strategy 2006-2010 · North Somerset Council Corporate Plan 2005-2008 · North Somerset Housing Strategy 2004-2009 · North Somerset Affordable Housing Delivery Plan 2005-2009 · Three Year Lifelong Learning Partnership Action Plan · Community Learning Plan 2006 · National Social Economy Strategy · Change Up Programme · CPA Inspection 2006 · LAA Older People Focus Groups · LAA Children and Young People Focus Groups · Sustainable Community Strategy consultation	· North Somerset Community Strategy 2004-2025 · Health Inequalities Action Plan · Supporting People Strategy 2005-2010 · Partnership for Older People Bid · North Somerset Council Corporate Plan 2005-2008 · Strategy for tackling Smoking in North Somerset · North Somerset Obesity Strategy · NHS Improvement Plan · Right of Way Improvement Plan · Department of Health: Tackling Health Inequalities · Choosing Health White Paper · Our Health, Our Care, Our Say White Paper · LAA Older People Focus Groups · CPA Inspection 2006 · Sustainable Community Strategy consultation	· North Somerset Community Strategy 2004-2025 · Safer Community Strategy 2005-2008 · Safer, Stronger Community Fund Agreement 2006 · North Somerset Municipal Waste Strategy 2005-2008 · National Respect Action Plan · North Somerset Social Economy Audit · Reducing Re-offending Delivery Plan · Drug Intervention Programme · Prolific/priority offenders programme · North Somerset Green Spaces Strategy · Youth Justice Plan · South West Regional Assembly environment and waste strategies · LAA Older People Focus Groups · CPA Inspection 2006 · LAA Children and Young People Focus Groups · Sustainable Community Strategy consultation · North Somerset Bio-Diversity Action Plan · Joint Local Transport Plan 2006-11 · North Somerset Private Sector Housing Strategy

Emerging Sustainable Community Strategy

North Somerset is currently reviewing its Community Strategy. The outcome of this will be a new “Sustainable Community Strategy”. This revised strategy will continue to focus on improving the local needs of the community. However, it will also seek to ensure the creation of what have been called ‘sustainable communities’. This is where the environmental, economic and social needs of the community are balanced.

The Strategy would also provide critical guidance and input to development of the Core Strategy and subsequent Development Documents setting out the spatial plan for North Somerset over the next 20 years.

To ensure that the Local Area Agreement not only addresses the priority objectives within the current Community Strategy, but also takes note of the emerging Sustainable Community Strategy, we have utilised engagement/consultation data from the Sustainable Community Strategy development process to inform the work of this agreement. Further, when this document is reviewed in (winter 2007-spring 2008) we will ensure that any changes in our long term priorities are reflected within this agreement.

Making a real difference to people’s lives

This agreement will make a real difference to people’s everyday lives, delivering real improvements in North Somerset.

We have selected these outcomes and targets because we think we can make significant improvements in these areas over the coming three years. Behind every target sits a series of practical projects/activities which will ensure these improvements are made. Set out below are just a few examples of the improvements you will see on the ground as a result of this agreement.

Children and young people

• More 16-18 year olds in education, training or employment – providing our young people with the skills to choose a career path they want or enabling their entry to the job market
• Healthier lifestyles to prevent a rise in the numbers of primary school children that are obese
• Better GCSE results. Ensuring our children get better results will provide them with more opportunities for further study and employment. Our focus will be on continuing to improve results in Weston-super-Mare which have been historically lower than the rest of the district
• To provide more opportunities for children and young people to access play and leisure facilities
• Reduce children and young people’s experiences of bullying in and outside school

Economic development and enterprise

• More people in our most deprived areas with qualifications/skills to help them increase their income and further their careers
• More long term unemployed people back into work and contributing to the local economy
• Better business support provided to our local businesses to ensure they can operate effectively in North Somerset
• More social enterprises in North Somerset which contribute to the local economy and provide people with volunteering opportunities

Healthier communities and older people

• Fewer obese adults
• Fewer people smoking, which is one of the major causes of preventative death
• Fewer older people falling and being admitted to hospital
• More adults choosing for themselves the additional care they want

Safer and stronger communities

· Less overall crime in North Somerset

· Fewer offenders re-offending once they are back within the community

· Fewer people worried about drug dealing and drug use as a result of action taken in these areas

· A reduction in anti-social behavior

· More recycling and less waste sent to landfill

· More volunteering

For more information on these improvements and the other targets we will be working toward please turn to appendix one on page 48.

Making it our Local Area Agreement

The LAA is a process to help partnerships deliver improvements to local communities more effectively. It is not an end in itself rather; it contributes towards the delivery of our existing strategies for the area. We have entitled our LAA ‘Improving our communities’ as it aims to make improvements to everyone’s quality of life in North Somerset. However, we have tried to ensure that the improvements we seek to make are targeted at the right level. Therefore some of our actions are targeted at certain geographic communities, others will benefit certain community groups and some will benefit the community at large. In doing this we have focused our LAA at the level where it will make most difference.

We have also taken care not to include everything that is important to North Somerset in this agreement. This is because some things are simply too complex and too long term for this agreement to progress. This does not mean they are any less of a priority, it just means that this agreement is not the right delivery vehicle.

Themes within the Local Area Agreement

This is North Somerset’s first Local Area Agreement. Therefore it was important that the agreement was developed in a way that ensured local problems were addressed in a co-ordinated way. As we have already set out, the outcomes have been selected to ensure they facilitate the successful implementation of the Community Strategy priority objectives and the overall aim of the LAA which is to “improve our communities”. However, the outcomes also address a number of themes and issues that cut across the four LAA blocks. This reflects the fact that much of the work that will be undertaken is interdependent. For example, reducing youth crime will be supported/achieved by providing more out of school activities for children. Further, increasing social enterprise will improve the local economy as well as increasing volunteering.

In developing this agreement we identified three cross-cutting themes and these are explained in more detail below:

• Tackling Inequality: Some of the work within this agreement is focused on our most deprived areas. We feel that focusing our efforts in these areas will lead to the biggest improvements in quality of life. The Indices of Multiple Deprivation 2004 identified that areas within South Ward and Central Ward in Weston-super-Mare fall within the 10% most deprived areas in England. For example:

a) Life expectancy in these two wards is 6.5 years lower than the North Somerset average

b) 48% of North Somerset’s recorded violent crime occurs in these wards

c) 33% of all recorded crime in North Somerset occurs in these two wards

d) In 2005 only 42.9% of 16 year olds from these two wards got 5 GCSEs grades A*-C compared to 57.4% across the whole of North Somerset. This is a 14.5% gap

e) 35% of adults in these wards do not have at least a level two qualification compared to 9% for the population of North Somerset as a whole

The Local Area Agreement provides an opportunity to enable organisations to come together to tackle problems, build on existing work and deliver new and innovative services in these communities. Appendix one (page 48) sets out which outcomes and performance indicators are specifically focused on geographic areas.

• Creating Healthier Lifestyles: This theme recognises that healthy lifestyles require more than high quality hospitals and treatment facilities. Healthier lifestyles are achieved by ensuring that we live in a high quality physical environment, with open spaces and decent housing. It is also a place where people eat healthy and balanced diets, undertake exercise and where support services are available for the most vulnerable in society. This agreement therefore tries to ensure a holistic approach to creating healthier lifestyles is implemented by including a broad range of outcomes. For example, we will ensure that more vulnerable people live in decent homes, undertake activities to reduce smoking, increase public rights of way, provide better parks, increase young people using leisure facilities and increase the accessibility of safe play areas.

• Improving Social Capital: Social capital is a concept used to describe a series of key foundations within a strong society. It refers to the social networks and support structures in place, community participation and civic/political involvement, trust in people and trust in institutions. Improving social capital is a key element to improving quality of life and we have therefore ensured that outcomes in the agreement seek to make improvements on the key aspects of Social Capital. We will therefore seek to increase volunteering, increase positive perceptions of outcomes within specific neighbourhoods and provide adults with the education/skills they need to succeed.

Cross Cutting Issues Identified

The way in which we have developed the Local Area Agreement has also been guided by key policy issues that cut across the agreement. Two of these issues focus on the specific ways in which improvements are made. The second two focus on key local issues that are not addressed directly by this agreement – but nonetheless reflect significant local issues. Our four cross cutting issues are:

• Sustainability
• Equality and diversity
• Transport
• Housing

Sustainability

Sustainability or the creation of sustainable communities is a national, regional and local priority. The aim is to ensure that all levels of government and partner organisations plan/implement policies, projects and services that balance economic, social and environmental needs. To facilitate this area of work the government has defined the key components of a sustainable community which are:

· Well served

· Active, inclusive and safe

· Well run

· Environmentally sensitive

· Well designed and built

· Well connected

· Thriving

· Fair for everyone

The national sustainability strategy recognises the pivotal role local strategic partnerships must play in ensuring the creation of sustainable communities. Sustainability is also recognised regionally as a priority in the ‘South West Sustainability Framework’ and sub-regionally within the ‘West of England Vision’. Locally, the current Community Strategy aims to ensure that the long term priorities it focuses on facilitate the creation of sustainable communities.

As the Local Area Agreement is a key delivery vehicle for much of the Community Strategy we have committed to ensuring that the outcomes within the agreement and their associated actions contribute to this policy area. To ensure sustainability was addressed in a robust fashion two sustainability assessments were undertaken. These assessments identified that the North Somerset LAA was strong in many of the components of the sustainable communities criteria by focusing on achieving:

• The provision of high quality health and social care services
• Communities that tolerate and respect one another
• Low levels of crime
• A strong voluntary sector
• Improved public spaces
• A wide range of jobs and training opportunities
• Cleaner, safer and greener neighbourhoods with reduced litter and graffiti

The full results of both assessments are set out in the sustainability document which accompanies this agreement. These assessments also raised a series of weaknesses within the LAA. These were elements of the sustainable communities criteria that the North Somerset LAA had not identified/sought to address in a robust fashion. These weakness centred round the following areas:

Children and young people

• High quality services for families (including early years and childcare)

Economic development and enterprise

• Accessible communication links nationally, regionally and locally
• Widespread internet access/telecommunications
• High quality, mixed use, durable and flexible buildings
• Economically viable and attractive town centres
• A strong business community
• Sufficient and suitable land and buildings to support economic prosperity
• A sufficient range of diverse, affordable and accessible housing within a balanced housing market
• Mixed use developments
• Activity to reduce climate change by improving energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions and using renewable energy
• Encourage sustainable production and consumption

Safer and stronger communities

• Protecting the environment by minimising pollution on land, water and the air
• Minimising waste and disposing it in accordance with current good practice
• Protect and enhance bio-diversity
• Enable lifestyles that minimises negative impacts on the environment – cycling and walking
• Improving public transport facilities
• Encouraging safe walking and cycling

General

• Accountable governance systems and strong partnerships

In order to ensure all elements of sustainability were addressed through the LAA the North Somerset Partnership has included additional outcomes and performance indicators. These are set out below

LAA Block	Sustainability – key changes
Children and young people	This agreement has now included specific performance indicators around early years provision in our most deprived areas and accessible play areas. These areas of focus build on the Single Plan for Children and Young People and ensure that high quality services, particularly early years services, are provided to our children
Safer and stronger communities	In order to add greater strategic importance to the issue of climate change the partnership has included an outcome on addressing this issue with performance indicators that seek to Reduce carbon dioxide emissions caused by private housing Improve the energy efficiency of council operational property Improve the carbon performance of council operational property The partnership has also recognised the key strategic importance of protecting and improving bio-diversity and has included an outcome which seeks to increase access and enjoyment of green spaces. Building on/complimenting the North Somerset Bio-diversity Action Plan the LAA will seek to protect and enhance bio-diversity by: Improving the ratio of local nature reserves to the population Reducing the distance of local nature reserves to our major population centres Monitoring the change in conditions at sites of special scientific importance and sites of significant local/regional interest Improving the management of council owned landholdings/buildings to achieve bio-diversity objectives Improving the area of land under Environmental Stewardship agri-environment agreement in North Somerset These objectives also contribute to another area of weakness – which focused on improving the quality of our environment The LAA also includes a focus on improving public transport (specifically bus passenger numbers) and cycling. This is discussed in more detail under the transport section.

In undertaking both assessments it was recognised that this agreement was just one delivery mechanism for improving public services/quality of life and that numerous sustainability projects are already being undertaken across the North Somerset Partnership. Therefore, recommendations made through the LAA sustainability assessments did not have to be included in the agreement if it could be shown that comparable work was already being undertaken across the partnership. Recommendations within the assessment that were not taken forward are set out below along with a rationale as to why the LAA has decided not to address them directly.

Possible Area of Focus	Reason for not addressing this area of focus directly in the Local Area Agreement
Accessible communication links nationally, regionally and locally	Communication links focus on issues such as road, rail and other transport links. Improvements in these areas require large scale capital investment. Given the lack of capital funding provided through the LAA we have decided that it is not the appropriate delivery mechanism to tackle these issues. Further, the Joint Local Transport Plan 2006-11 sets out detailed plans to address this issue
Widespread internet access/telecommunications	The council’s Customer Access Programme is addressing these issues and allocating significant amounts of money to make improvements in these areas. We therefore felt that the LAA would not add any additional value to this work at this time
High quality, mixed use, durable and flexible buildings	The North Somerset Partnership again felt that the LAA was not the appropriate delivery mechanism to deliver improvements in these areas. Rather, the Local Development Framework and associated projects such as the development of the Weston-super-Mare Area Action Plan are more appropriate routes through which these issues can be addressed. Further, these separate projects are also subject to sustainability assessments.
Economically viable and attractive town centres
Mixed use developments
Sufficient and suitable land and buildings to support economic prosperity
A sufficient range of diverse, affordable and accessible housing within a balanced housing market	With the confirmation that the West of England has been successful in gaining New Growth Points funding from the Government the North Somerset Partnership believes that the outcomes and performance indicators associated with this funding stream provide a sufficient focus on this issue. As a result of recent Government announcements this funding will no longer form part of the LAA Grant and will not appear in our LAA. We do however continue to believe that this area of work provides a sufficient focus on housing. Further work is also being undertaken through the North Somerset Housing Strategy and Affordable Housing Delivery Plan
A strong business community	The North Somerset Partnership felt that a strong business community could only be created by focusing on the key foundations of a successful economy – two of these are high employment and a highly skilled workforce. The LAA therefore includes outcomes to increase the skills of the local workforce and get the long-term unemployed back into work. We also felt that this focus compliments the priorities and actions within the draft Economic Development and Regeneration Strategy
Accountable governance systems and strong partnerships	The governance arrangements (detailed on page 26) provide a series of partner and council mechanisms that will ensure strong partnership arrangements and accountable governance.

Full details on the sustainability assessment recommendations and the recommendations not taken forward can be found in the accompanying sustainability document.

Equality and Diversity

The North Somerset Partnership is committed to equal citizenship and will endeavour to deliver programmes that respond to the needs of the diverse community of North Somerset through this agreement. Equality is a key value running throughout the Community Strategy with recognition that all people regardless of their race, age, gender, disability, sexual orientation, faith or belief must have equal access to information and services to ensure they can participate fully in society.

When we use "equalities" we mean the six traditionally accepted strands race, gender, disability, sexuality, religion and age. In a North Somerset context we would add gypsy and traveller issues and carers. By "equality of opportunity and treatment" we do not mean that projects and schemes must "treat everyone equally", but that they must ensure in everything they do they do not either discriminate against people, treat them unfairly or create barriers that prevent them participating in or benefiting from the project. This includes taking actions to ensure all equality communities can potentially benefit even if they have not done so historically or the project is not specifically aimed at them.

Through the LAA we will celebrate the diversity of the district. Recognising that inequality and discrimination does occur, we will challenge and try to put right any unfair discrimination wherever it occurs. North Somerset’s LAA aims to ensure that as partner organisations working together we promote equality and diversity in the way our services are delivered and in our employment practices. Within this we believe that equality for all is important for the whole community, improving lives and bringing social benefit not only to local residents but also to those who visit the area for work and leisure.

To deliver equality of opportunity and treatment through the LAA we will need to ensure:

• Commitment from all partners that equality and diversity will remain at the forefront of the partnership’s agendas
• Joint ownership of the equality agenda
• Engagement with the equality communities in developing actions plans relevant to local communities
• Mechanisms are put in place for monitoring the impact of a project from an equality perspective
• The opportunities that are presented by working together to develop good practice on issues of equality and diversity are maximised

We recognise that the people who are affected by the development of and changes to policies and services are vitally important in helping to shape those policies and services. We will endeavour to support the community of North Somerset to enable their real involvement in the development of projects associated with this agreement.

This statement is not intended to replace any existing equality and diversity policies that are in place within the organisations that are part of the North Somerset Partnership. Rather, this statement (and supplementary equalities toolkit) is intended to assist partners involved in delivering the LAA to strengthen their joint approach to equality and diversity.

When developing the LAA the following duties have been specifically considered. The achievements of the LAA where possible will be monitored to establish their impact on racial groups, disabled people and gender equality.

Race Relations Amendment Act 2000:

• To eliminate racial discrimination
• To promote equal opportunities
• To promote good relations between different racial groups.

Disability Discrimination Act (1995 and 2005):

• Promote equality of opportunity between Disabled persons and other persons
• Eliminate discrimination that is unlawful under the Act
• Eliminate harassment of Disabled persons that is related to their disabilities
• Promote positive attitudes towards Disabled persons
• Encourage participation by Disabled persons in public life
• Take steps to take account of Disabled persons' disabilities, even where that involves treating Disabled persons more favourably than other persons.

Equality Act 2006:

• To eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment
• To promote equality of opportunity between men and women

The NSP LAA Group are responsible for overseeing that the principles within this statement are delivered through the actions explained in "Making The LAA Equalities Statement A Reality". This equality statement will be reviewed on an annual basis by North Somerset Partnership to ensure that it is in line with best practice and reflective of current equality legislation.

Transport

Although not addressed directly in the Local Area Agreement the issue of local transport provision and in particular access to services is a key issue for North Somerset. The Community Strategy sets out a priority objective to – “Improve the range and choice of transport in the area as well as reduce congestion.”

The Joint Local Transport Plan sets out a comprehensive package of measures which seek to address this priority objective within the Community Strategy. However, we felt that the Local Area Agreement provided an additional opportunity to increase the strategic focus on key elements of this strategy that contribute to/build on our attempts to ensure the creation of sustainable communities.

The LAA will therefore seek to achieve the outcome of ‘reducing congestion’. Specifically, this will focus on two key areas for North Somerset. These are:

• Increasing the number of people that use buses
• Increasing the number of people that cycle

Actions which build on the work already set out in the Joint Local Transport Plan will be developed prior to the LAA being signed off. In addition we would expect to see partners re-allocating and/or maintaining resources they currently provide to these areas so as to ensure this outcome is achieved.

Housing

As with transport – although not directly addressed by the four blocks within this agreement the issue of housing is a significant local issue that we felt should be addressed, in part, by this agreement. The Community Strategy lists housing as a priority objective and aims to, “Ensure that North Somerset has an appropriate range of private and social housing to meet the needs of our diverse area.” The districts Housing Strategy and Affordable Housing Delivery Plan identify that North Somerset suffers from the following issues:

· Lack of affordable housing and difficulty in accessing owner occupation

· Lack of social housing

· The impact of commuter towns and the impact this has on communities

· The need for transport and other amenities to be developed

· The increasing population within North Somerset

Further, in 2005 the Bramley report, which looked at housing need, identified that affordable housing need exceeds the total projected new dwellings. It also found that only 41% of households are able to afford property within the district. As well as the issues surrounding volume and affordability of housing the district also needs to improve the quality of housing - with 42% of housing not being rated of a decent standard.

A significant amount of work is already being undertaken by North Somerset Partner organisations such as North Somerset Housing and North Somerset Council to improve both the quality and supply of housing locally. However, we felt that this agreement could provide an additional focus to key aspects of the housing agenda and respond to recent inspection reports such as our Joint Area Review which highlighted the need to improve housing provision for care leavers. This agreement is therefore seeking to make improvements to housing in the following areas:

· Increasing the number of vulnerable people in decent homes

· Ensuring vulnerable young people leaving care have access to decent social and private sector housing

· Reducing the number of vulnerable people in fuel poverty

· Increasing energy efficiency of our housing stock

· Providing adaptations for vulnerable people to help them live at home

· Introducing a local accreditation scheme for agencies that provide supported housing for individuals in drug rehabilitation

· Focusing on reducing the carbon dioxide emissions of our private sector housing

Developing our Local Area Agreement

Statement of Community Involvement

We have strived to develop this agreement in an open and inclusive fashion. As such, we have put significant effort and resources into consultation and engagement activities. These are detailed in appendix two, and have included;

• Specific consultation/engagement events for the local voluntary and community sector, jointly facilitated and supported by GOSW

• The engagement/representation of key local delivery partnerships, such as the Strategic Housing Forum, Responsible Authorities Group, North Somerset Initiative and Health and Well Being Partnership
• Involvement of the Council’s Executive and back bench councillors through Joint Policy and Scrutiny Panel workshops
• Older People’s Focus Groups
• Reviewing key messages from numerous pieces of consultation with children and young people conducted over the past 18 months
• Consultation gathered from the Sustainable Community Strategy development process
• Engagement with equalities communities to gather their views on this agreement and how the various projects/services could meet their needs

All of the above has been underpinned by the commitment of the North Somerset Partnership (NSP) to lead the development process. The NSP effectively began the development process in November 2005 with a major stakeholder event, which attracted over 100 attendees. This was built upon in February 2006 when a further stakeholder day was held to confirm the overall approach and direction of the North Somerset LAA, with input during the day from GOSW and from other Local Strategic Partnerships from the South West who have already been through the development process.

Project Management

Overseeing the development of the agreement was a LAA project board, set up by the North Somerset Partnership, and consisting of the following representatives:

• Avon and Somerset Constabulary
• North Somerset Council
• North Somerset Primary Care Trust
• Voluntary Action North Somerset
• North Somerset Enterprise Agency (Business West)
• Weston College

Board members oversaw the development of a specific block of the Local Area Agreement. These groups were in turn supported by policy officers drawn from North Somerset Partnership organisations.

Governance Arrangements

The overall governance structure for the LAA is set out in diagram form below

As this diagram shows the NSP Board will have ultimate responsibility for the North Somerset LAA and the council as accountable body will be responsible for the audit and financial aspects of the LAA. The council will also co-ordinate the performance management arrangements for the agreement.

Role of partner organisations

Within the LAA we have assigned responsibility for outcomes, performance indicators and individual targets to specific organisations. We have further assigned a specific manager within each partner organisation who will be personally accountable for ensuring delivery of these targets. In taking responsibility for these performance indicators and targets the lead organisation will be expected to:

• Integrate the LAA outcomes in their own internal performance management arrangements so that performance is being considered at a senior management level within their organisation
• Submit data and commentary through the Performance Management tool (PerformancePlus) by an agreed schedule

Where an LAA outcome will receive a portion of the LAA Grant, as accountable body, the council will require an LAA Delivery Agreement to be made between the council and relevant partner organisation. This will ensure that the portion of the LAA Grant received will be spent on delivering the LAA outcomes.

Role of NSP delivery partnerships

The role of the Delivery Partnerships will be to:

· Review progress on outcomes and performance indicators within their remit

· Agree/take action to address underperformance against targets - after reviewing commentary from partner organisations

· Feed their conclusions on performance to the NSP Board as part of their quarterly feedback report

The LAA performance management framework envisages Delivery Partnerships acting as the first oversight mechanism to identify solutions to underperformance – particularly where individual organisations are struggling to make the necessary improvements to bring their performance back on track. The LAA outcomes tables in appendix one set out in more detail which delivery partnership will be responsible for each performance indicator

Role of LAA performance monitoring group

We recognise that our Delivery Partnership’s will not have time to collate and analyse the technical detail of each performance indicator. Therefore, the NSP will be establishing a Performance Monitoring Group. This consists of performance, finance and audit specialists across the partnership. Their role will be to

• Prepare quarterly reports using the Performance Management Tool for all the LAA outcomes and issue feedback to Delivery Partnerships
• Prepare fuller six monthly reports for the NSP Board and GOSW

This new mechanism will build on partner organisations own performance management arrangements and existing Delivery Partnership reporting procedures.

This group will consist of the following individuals:

Stephen Baggs Performance Manager	Avon and Somerset Constabulary
Shane Trevett Scrutiny and Performance Manager	North Somerset Council
Simon Gregory Community Strategy and Regeneration Manager	North Somerset Council
Craig Bolt Assistant Director Children and Young Peoples Services	North Somerset Council
Gina Dormer Community Safety and Drugs Action Team Manager	North Somerset Council
David Lawrence Assistant Director Environment and Operations	North Somerset Council
Martin Millman Audit Manager	North Somerset Council
Pete Sloman Head of Financial Management	North Somerset Council
Mary Hart Head of Health Improvement	North Somerset Primary Care Trust

Role of NSP Board and NSP Local Area Agreement Group

The NSP Board will act as overall owner of the LAA and the most senior oversight mechanism at which the performance of the LAA is reviewed and assessed. As well as receiving the quarterly performance updates from Delivery Partnerships the NSP Board will also receive the more detailed six-monthly reports that are submitted to GOSW that set out our progress. The key responsibilities of this group are:

• To oversee the LAA by reviewing the LAA six monthly reports from the LAA monitoring group and review actions taken to address under performance
• Where necessary direct the Delivery Partnerships and individual organisations to take specific action to ensure that underperformance is being responded to in a robust fashion
• Where necessary, ensure continued and sustained underperformance is highlighted to GOSW and request additional support

In developing this agreement the NSP Board set up the NSP Local Area Agreement Group (see page 24) which will remain in operation post LAA submission. We will convene this group quarterly to review progress the LAA is making and to facilitate the six monthly review and annual refresh of the agreement.

Role of the accountable body

As the diagram above sets out – the Partnership recognises the role the council as accountable body will need to play in supporting the successful implementation of the LAA. Each level of the partnership governance framework is therefore supported by the council. The Performance Monitoring Group will be supported by the council’s LAA Project Team. This will consist of a LAA Manager and LAA Support Officer. Their roles will be to co-ordinate all LAA activity and support all management activity – to include support for the Performance Monitoring Group.

At the strategic level the council will establish a senior officer team consisting of Directors, Assistant Directors and Senior Managers who are responsible for the LAA blocks. This group will be tasked with co-ordinating the activities of the council as accountable body for the LAA. This group will also act as technical support for the NSP LAA Group when they review the LAA.

Political involvement of members will remain a central part of the LAA Governance arrangements. As well as involving the Executive in the LAA process the council will ensure regular reports and briefings are brought to the Finance and Performance Policy and Scrutiny Panel – on matters relating to the LAA Grant, audit and performance elements of the agreement. The Community Services Policy and Scrutiny Panel will also receive regular reports on policy matters relating to the NSP, Community Strategy and LAA (in its capacity as one of the medium term delivery mechanisms for the Community Strategy.

With regard to the more technical aspects of the accountable body function the council will undertake the following activities:

• Receive and allocate the pump priming grant and LAA Grant
• Prepare the Statement of Grant Usage every six months
• Provide regular financial reports to the NSP Board and relevant Delivery Partnerships in conjunction with the quarterly performance summaries and more detailed six monthly summaries
• Develop an LAA Asset Register

• Test the effectiveness of the governance arrangements for the LAA once in operation
• Formulate and manage the Partnership Risk Register
• Test the accuracy of LAA Grant claim in relation to expenditure and performance
• Test the accuracy of the LAA Asset Register

Data Collection

We will be using the PerformancePlus performance management system to collect performance data, highlight variances and generate performance reports. This system has numerous advantages such as:

• A sophisticated ability to order and present performance data
• Allowing all agencies in the area to enter data into a single system and view data
• Putting in place controls to ensure the quality of data within the performance system is maintained

However, the key benefit of this system is that it begins to move the agencies toward a district wide performance management system. Therefore, not only are outcomes being managed at district level but so is the information we use to judge our success at making improvements in quality of life. To support this performance management system we have also developed a Performance Information Guide which will be issued to every manager that is responsible for delivering this agreements performance indicators. Training will also be provided for performance colleagues to enable them to use PerformancePlus. This will be completed by March 2007.

Ensuring Data Quality

To ensure robust collection of performance data technical specifications for every performance indicator have been drawn up. These specifications set out how data for each performance indicator is collected, the sources of the data, the frequency of data collections, audit arrangements, existing data quality targets and baseline information. They also include named contacts and assigned roles/responsibilities for data collection. Where existing audit arrangements for performance information are not in place new localised audit arrangements will be established.

This information will enable the LAA Monitoring Group to ensure that the performance indicators are being tracked/monitored in a robust way. It will also provide clarity as to how organisations must collect/gather the data for each performance indicator.

Implementing the Governance Arrangements

In order to ensure the NSP has the capacity and ability to manage the LAA - particularly the performance aspects of the governance arrangements the partnership will take the following steps from December 2006 to March 2007 prior to the implementation of the agreement:

• Establish the Performance Monitoring Group
• Develop a performance monitoring guide setting out how performance indicators will be measured and the reporting schedule for reporting to Delivery Partnership’s and the NSP Board
• Provide detailed briefing/training sessions for all Delivery Partnerships setting out their new and/or enhanced performance management role

The Partnership will also implement the decision of the NSP to use PerformancePlus as the data collection tool for the LAA. Before March 2007 the partnership will:

• Set up PerformancePlus within the council and test the robustness of the system
• Populate the system with baseline data
• Train the council’s corporate performance team on the use of PerformancePlus
• Ensure that resources are allocated to ensure performance team has the capacity to undertake this commitment

In order to ensure the NSP has sufficient financial and audit mechanisms in place the council will take the following steps from December 2006 to March 2007 prior to the implementation of the agreement:

• Review internal audit systems to ensure the council has the capacity to undertake these activities
• Establish a coding structure for the LAA within the council’s financial structure
• Establish spending patterns for each outcome
• Determine a payment structure for each outcome – whether payment should be made in advance or reimbursed
• Prepare for production of monthly monitoring statement

Allocation of Pump Priming Grant and Performance Reward Grant

In order to ensure delivery of our stretch outcomes the £943,000 of pump priming grant has been divided equally between the four blocks of the LAA. This means that each block will receive £235,750 in additional money over the three year life of the LAA. As each block has different numbers of outcomes it will stretch over the next three years the specific allocations to each outcome are set out below:

Children and young people

Outcome	Performance Indicator	PPG Allocation over the next three years
Achieve economic well-being	Percentage of 16-18 year olds not in education, employment and training focusing on the differential between Weston-super-Mare and the North Somerset average	£47,150
Stay safe	Percentage of reported incidents of bullying which stops following effective intervention	£47,150
Enjoy and achieve	Percentage of 16 year olds achieving 5 A*-C GCSEs, including English and Maths	£47,150
	Accessibility of safe play areas and opportunities	£47,150
	Half days missed through absence	£47,150

Economic Development and Enterprise

Outcome	Performance Indicator	PPG Allocation over the next three years
Increasing skills	Number of people assisted in their skills development - number of adults who are supported in achieving at least a full first level 2 qualification or equivalent	£117,875
Increasing employment	Number of people moving off inactive benefits	£117,875

Healthier Communities and Older People

Outcome	Performance Indicator	PPG Allocation over the next three years
Improve the health of people in North Somerset and reduce health inequalities measured	The proportion of adults achieving at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity at least three times a week, with the focus on those living in deprived areas or belonging to groups with poor health outcomes (Half stretch)	£39,291.66
	Number of recorded obese individuals losing weight through a personalised weight management programme. Reduction in body weight of 5%+ or 5Kg+ by adults aged 15-75 years with BMI of 30+ on completion of an evidence-based weight management programme and at 6 months (Half stretch)	£39,291.66
Improve the quality of Life for older people	Number of adults and older people with self-directed support packages	£78,583.33
Improve the health of people in North Somerset and reduce health inequalities measured	Number of 4 week quitters from deprived areas and groups with poor health outcomes	£78,583.33

Safer and stronger communities

Outcome	Performance Indicator	PPG Allocation over the next three years
Reduce crime	Increase the number of incidents of domestic violence reported annually to the Police	£78,583.33
	Reduce the number of repeat incidents of domestic violence to those victims of domestic violence who are being managed by a multi-agency risk assessment conference (MARAC) system or equivalent	£78,583.33
Empower local people to have a greater choice and influence over local decision making and a greater role in public service deliver	Increase the number of people recorded as or reporting that they have engaged in formal volunteering on an average of at least two hours per week over the last year	£78,583.33

Each performance indicator will be responsible for drawing down an equal share of the performance reward grant. As we currently have 13 stretch performance indicators they will each be responsible for drawing down 7.69% of reward grant. This is equivalent to £376,923.07 (totaling £4.9 million).

We have made no decisions as to where or how the performance reward grant will be allocated once it is received in 2010-11. This will be subject to detailed discussion/consultation during the life of the LAA.
PART B:

Children and Young People

Context

22% of North Somerset’s population are children and young people under the age of 19. Although this is a significant minority, the proportion of 16-24 year olds in North Somerset is low – 8.6% when compared to the national average of 10.3%. Outcomes for children and young people are consistently above, or comparable with similar areas and/or national averages. For example, GCSE and Key Stage 3 results are above national average and Key Stage 2 results are among the best in the country. More school leavers are progressing into education and/or training, the area is above the median level for children and young people using museums, 94% of children in contact with the Youth Service rate it positively, child immunisation rates are well above national averages and the rate of breast feeding is significantly higher than the national average (76.2% compared to 66.6%).

However, despite a positive picture overall there are areas where improvements must be made if North Somerset is to meet its vision for children and young people which is for

“North Somerset’s children and young people to be happy, healthy and safe and achieve their full potential. This is the keystone to their future personal success and the contribution they make to their communities”

(Single Plan for Children and Young People 2006-09)

Areas of Focus for the Local Area Agreement

Improvements we seek to make in this agreement build on the strengths of North Somerset and address the weaknesses we have identified through our own assessments and those conducted by external bodies. The choice of outcomes and performance indicators for this block have been guided by the Community Strategy priority objectives, the areas Single Plan for Children and Young People (2006-09) and our recent Joint Area Review Inspection which was undertaken in March 2006.

The outcomes we will be focusing on in our agreement are:

• Achieving economic well-being
• Be healthy
• Stay safe
• Enjoy and achieve

Stretch Outcomes

The following outcomes are the areas where we want to achieve stretching performance over the next three years.

Achieve economic wellbeing	LAACYP1	Percentage of 16-18 year olds not in education, employment or training focusing on the differential between Weston-super-Mare and the North Somerset average
	Ensuring more young people are in education, employment and training provides a key part of ensuring a person has a high quality of life. It benefits the local economy either directly through employment or by ensuring young people have the skills to access jobs. It also reduces the vulnerability of groups such as young carers, teenage mothers and young offenders North Somerset has a challenging target to reduce those not in education, employment and training to 4.2% by 2010. By investing additional financial resources we will be able to lay the foundations to meet or exceed this target. Currently 4.6% of children are not in education, employment or training. Making this a stretch outcome will also ensure that the entire North Somerset Partnership contributes to this area of focus as no one organisation can, by itself, deliver the level of improvements we want to make in this area.
Stay safe	LAACYP3ii	Percentage of reported incidents of bullying which stop following effective intervention
	Nationally, bullying remains a significant problem with 51% of final year primary school students reporting that they were bullied (DfES Tackling Bullying). This largely conforms to Childline figures. Further, 28% of 12-13 year old students nationally stated that they were bullied (DfES Tackling Bullying). Earlier survey exercises indicate that the North Somerset position is comparable with the national picture. Additional financial resources in this area will enable the development of robust monitoring mechanisms for bullying and implementation of projects to reduce incidences of bullying by 2010.
Enjoy and achieve	LAACYP5i	Percentage of 16 year olds achieving 5 A*-C GCSEs, including English and Maths
	Although district wide GCSE results (A*-C) remain above the national average this figure masks attainment inequality North Somerset. In 2005 47.1% of 16 year olds achieved 5 GCSE’s grades A*-C including English and Maths. However, within Weston-super-Mare this figure fell to 37.3%. This is below the national average. Although the gap is reducing this agreement provides an additional opportunity to close the gap faster by funding additional support such as learning mentors and re-engagement programmes for disaffected students.
	LAACYP5iv	Accessibility of safe play areas and opportunities
	One of the key themes that link much of the work in this agreement is the need to create healthier lifestyles. For example, two areas of focus will reduce obesity and increase physical activity. A key supporting element of this will be to ensure children and young people have access to safe play areas. This was a key issue for children and young people identified during the development of the Single Plan. Currently there are barriers to our play areas such as fear of crime, less open space, increases in traffic and changes in work patterns. A £342,000 Big Lottery Grant will underpin work in this area. A comparable amount has also been agreed by the council. The additional financial resources available from this agreement will enable supervision of play areas and increased marketing to increase their use by families.
	LAACYP5v	Half days missed through absence
	Locally there has been an increase in half days missed through absence at secondary schools. Despite a fall within 2005-06 (to 7.25 days) figures have risen once again to 8.49 days which is higher than the 2004-05 national average. Absence from schools can have a detrimental affect on a pupils learning and as a consequence their exam results (which is also a focus of this agreement). Additional financial resources will enable additional staff resources to be provided to create better joint working arrangements and target schools with high absence rates.

Tackling Our Cross-cutting themes

The children and young people block contributes to our three themes in the following ways:

Tackling inequalities: Our focus on improving economic well-being and increasing achievement is targeted to our areas where performance is below what we would like. Further, improving GCSE performance will focus on reducing the inequality in results between Weston-super-Mare and the rest of North Somerset. Finally, our focus on improving early year’s provision is targeted to the most deprived areas in Weston-super-Mare (South and Central wards).

Creating healthier lifestyles: Much of the work within this block also seeks to provide the context in which children can live healthier lifestyles. Our focus on increasing the number of children undertaking physical activity, provision of safe play areas contributes to the creation of healthier lifestyles. Further, we will also be seeking to halt the rise in childhood obesity.

Improving social capital: This block also addresses elements of this theme by ensuring a range of cultural opportunities are available to our young people and providing support systems for our most vulnerable children who are in care.

Economic Development and Enterprise

Context

In 2001 there were 134,132 people of working age living in North Somerset and 91,767 were in employment; an economic activity rate of 68.4%. This is very close to the economic activity rate of the West of England sub-region which was 68.8% in the 2001 census.

In the forecast to 2015 there is strong growth in the age groups 20-24 and 25-29, but a decline in population in age groups 35-39 and 40-44. A broadly similar pattern is evident in the next decade.

The implications of these findings are that there:

• Will be a general growth in demand for goods and services within the local economy as a result of population growth.
• Will be a growing demand for specific services used predominantly by older people e.g. care homes.
• Will be a shortage of younger people and possibly of people in the mid- range of working age to meet the recruitment needs of local employers.

The potential for overall labour shortages, however, are likely to be reduced if higher rates of economic activity are secured. Recent demographic projections for the West of England sub-region acknowledge the prospect of higher economic activity rates compensating to some degree for the ageing of the workforce.

Within Weston-super-Mare future development will be guided by the Weston Area Development Framework. This seeks to achieve a sustainable balance of housing and employment, reducing the need to travel. It also seeks to provide good quality employment and opportunities for residents through growth in modern, growing sectors of the economy. Once implemented it will enable Weston-super-Mare to have defined its own role within the sub-regional economy and become noted as a place of positive economic change and sustainable growth.

The baseline forecast growth of employment in Weston-super-Mare to 2021 is 3,100 new jobs. However, successful implementation of the Weston Area Development Framework will attract new investment and create additional employment – an estimated total of up to 10,060 new jobs. This will help underpin the employment led strategy of growth as proposed by the Regional Spatial Strategy.

Areas of Focus for the Local Area Agreement

The choice of outcomes and performance indicators for this block have been guided by common economic themes emerging from strategic policy, the Community Strategy priority objectives based around ‘increasing prosperity,’ the council’s economic and regeneration priorities and the Economic Development & Regeneration Strategy for North Somerset

The outcomes we will be focusing on in our agreement are:

• Increasing skills
• Increasing employment
• Increasing enterprise
• Reduce congestion

Stretch Outcomes

The following outcomes are the areas where we want to achieve stretching performance over the next three years.

Increasing skills	LAAEDE1	Number of people assisted in their skills development – number of adults who are supported in achieving at least a full first level 2 qualification or equivalent
	Nationally over one third of adults do not hold the equivalent of a basic school leaving qualification, almost 17% are not functionally literate and almost 50% of adults are not functionally numerate. Improving our schools alone will not solve this problem as 70% of our 2020 workforce have already completed their compulsory education. In the West of England 210,880 adults do not have a level two qualification and 19% of these individuals live in North Somerset. Significant pockets of these people live within our most deprived communities within Weston-super-Mare. Additional funding will augment existing programmes to reduce the number of people within these areas without these skills.
Increasing employment	LAAEDE3	Number of people moving off inactive benefits
	The governments stated aspiration is to achieve an 80% employment rate within North Somerset. Our current employment rate is subject to variations with significantly lower employment rates in our most deprived areas. For example, Weston-super-Mare south and central ward have employment rates of 61.7% and 64%. Additional focused work is therefore required to increase the employment rates of these wards. One method to increase employment is to focus on the people that are on inactive benefit. Additional resources targeted to these areas would be able to build on the Ready4Work scheme which seeks to bring the long term unemployed back into work.

Tackling Our Cross-cutting themes

The economic development and enterprise block will contribute to our cross-cutting themes in the following ways:

Tackling inequalities: The focus of this block is to provide the enabling measures that facilitate economic development within North Somerset. Our focus on improving skills and getting people off inactive benefits are targeted to our most deprived areas that have significantly lower employment rates than the North Somerset average and significantly fewer people with basic skills and/or level two skills. By tackling these root causes of inequality we will be able to continue reducing the inequality gap between our most prosperous and most deprived areas.

Improving social capital: A key element of social capital is to facilitate greater community participation in society. This blocks focus on improving and increasing the number of social enterprises within North Somerset will contribute to these elements of social capital. Not only will we be building on a significant element of the regional economy – we will also be facilitating increased volunteering as social enterprises rely (in part) of volunteers for staff

Healthier Communities and Older People

Context

The health of people living in North Somerset is generally good; the average life expectancy in North Somerset is 79.5 years, just above the national average. However significant health inequalities do exist across the district. For example, premature death rates in parts of Weston-super-Mare are three times higher that the rates for our more affluent areas within North Somerset. Further, with a quarter of the population of North Somerset over 60 years old services will increasingly need to be designed and delivered in a way that meet the needs of this growing population.

Areas of focus for the Local Area Agreement

This agreement will be built upon and support national priorities reflected in the Public Health White Paper Choosing Health, Making healthier choices easier and the Health and Social Care White Paper Our health, our care, our say: A new direction for community services. Our outcomes in this block also support and build upon our local priorities around health and older people as set out in the Community Strategy, Health Inequalities Action Plan and the Partnership for Older People bid. The council, together with the Primary Care Trust and other local partners are in the process of writing an Active Lifestyles strategy for North Somerset. The needs identified in this emerging strategy have also been used to help underpin the outcomes in this agreement.

The outcomes we will be focusing on in our agreement are:

• Improve the health of people in North Somerset and reduce health inequalities
• Reduce alcohol abuse
• Increase choice and control
• Improve the quality of life for older people
• Increase personal dignity
• Improve quality of life
• Achieve economic well-being
• Develop social capital and reduce social isolation

Stretch Outcomes

The following outcomes are the areas where we want to achieve stretching performance over the next three years.

Improve the health of people in North Somerset and reduce health inequalities	LAAHCOP1ii	Number of recorded obese individuals losing weight through a personalised weight management programme. Reduction in body weight of 5%+ or 5kg+ by adults aged 15-75 years with BMI of 30+ on completion of an evidence-based weight management programme and at 6 months
	Nationally obesity is rising, with 22.7% of men and 23.8% of women obese in 2004 – with almost two thirds of all adults either over weight or obese. Locally, obesity levels in North Somerset are following this national upward trend. Of those that have had their BMI measurement 27.4% (2004-05) and 28.7% (2005-06) were found to be obese. Additional financial resources are required to ensure more people have their BMI recorded and to reduce the number of people who are obese. Particular focus will need to be provided to Weston-super-Mare south and central wards where the percentage of people measured as obese is higher than the district average.
	LAAHCOP1iii LAAHCOP1iva LAAHCOP1ivb LAAHCOP1va LAAHCOP1vb LAAHCOP1vc LAAHCOP1vd		The proportion of adults achieving at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity at least three times a week, with the focus on those living in deprived areas or belonging to groups with poor health outcomes
	This area of focus compliments our efforts to reduce obesity and health inequality within our most deprived areas. Additional resources will enable us to provide more exercise classes across the district but also to groups with poor health outcome and our deprived areas that suffer health inequalities. Physical activity will be a core element of our obesity strategy and our attempts to reduce the life expectancy inequality which is currently 6.5 years when comparing our most deprived areas to the district average.
	LAAHCOP1viia LAAHCOP1viib LAAHCOP1viid LAAHCOP1viie		Number of 4 week quitters from deprived areas and number of 4 week quitters from groups with poor health outcomes
	Smoking is the single greatest cause of preventative illness and early death with more than 100,000 people dying from smoking related illness nationwide. In 2003 it was estimated that 23% of the population were smokers and in North Somerset it is estimated that this figure is 20% with approximately 338 deaths per year. Although the Primary Care Trust smoking cessation service performs well it is notable that smoking cessation is lower in our most derived areas and in those with poor mental health problems. Additional financial resources will allow the cessation service to augment its work for those groups and reduce health inequality.
Improve quality of life for older people	LAAHCOP5ii	Number of adults and older people with self-directed support packages
	Direct payments, individualised budgets and ‘in control’ schemes for people to arrange their own support at home packages are a central theme of the Governments attempts to provide self directed care. The council is currently not meeting its targets to increase the number of people receiving self directed care. For example, last year 78 per 100,000 received direct payments against a target of 90 per 100,000. In order to meet our longer term aim of increasing the independence of older people additional financial resources are required to focus on increasing uptake of self directed care packages

Tackling Our Cross-cutting themes

The healthier communities and older people block contributes to our cross-cutting themes in the following ways:

Tackling inequalities: Health inequality is a significant issue for the area. With life expectancy varying between our poorest areas and our most prosperous. Much of the health work contained within this agreement is targeted to the South and Central wards in Weston-super-Mare where health outcomes are the poorest. All our work around smoking cessation, increasing physical activity and healthy eating will be targeted in those areas of Weston-super-Mare and/or groups of people where the most dramatic improvements in health inequality can be made.

Creating healthy lifestyles: As this block's primary focus is on improving the health and well-being of the people in North Somerset this cross-cutting theme is tackled by the broad range of outcomes included within this block.

Improving social capital: One of the key areas for this block is to provide opportunities for the socially excluded – particularly older people to gain access to key services such as libraries, educational courses and leisure facilities. This area of work also seeks to enable older people to participate in the community and take advantage of volunteering opportunities.

Safer and Stronger Communities

Context

Developing safer and stronger communities in North Somerset has been a priority for the NSP for a number of years, with the main delivery mechanisms being the delivery partnerships for community safety (the Responsible Authorities Group) and Communities and People Delivery Partnership.

The Responsible Authorities Group has been established following implementation of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, and consists of the chief officers from the Local Authority, Police, Probation, Primary Care Trust and Fire Services, with a wider consultative forum comprising a range of community groups and organisations.

In North Somerset great value is placed on communities and the partnership works to support a broad number of organisations that contribute to positive outcomes across the four blocks, these include neighbourhood watch schemes and Local Action Teams. There are almost 1400 neighbourhood watch schemes in North Somerset and 32 Local Action Teams, and the Partnership is supportive of a number of projects that have generated from within these groups, including Community Speedwatch, Bobby Van, Support our Seniors, and drugs/alcohol awareness raising schemes.

Through partnership working North Somerset has seen positive progress in the fight against crime. In North Somerset in 2005-06, there was an 8.1% reduction in British Crime Survey (BCS) Comparator Crime compared to the previous year. This ‘basket’ of crimes includes: criminal damage, wounding and common assault, burglary dwelling and vehicle crime. The area also saw a 5.7% decrease in criminal damage compared to the previous year and a 13.1% reduction in BCS violent crime. Burglary dwelling reduced by 11.6% in the same period.

Nationally over the same period, there has been a very different story. Whilst in North Somerset BCS violent crime reduced by 13.1%, nationally it increased by 2%. Overall national numbers of crime showed a 2% reduction whilst there was an 8.1% reduction in North Somerset.

Despite these positive steps forward we are eager to achieve even greater reductions as well as reduce fear of crime. Consultation continues to show that fear of crime remains an issue for North Somerset. However, this is also moving in the right direction with 89% of people saying crime had got better or stayed the same, with only 9% of people feeling it had got worse.

We recognise the critical role communities have in developing the safer and stronger agenda. Work through the Rural Social Community Programme (RSCP) is supporting Parishes to consult and produce Parish Plans for their area that are developed with agencies to ensure they are achievable. A Community Chest based on actions in Parish Plans is supporting local projects to make things happen. The RSCP is also supporting young people and Parish Councils to work more closely together in understanding each other’s issues. This programme is supporting capacity building across local communities and the community voluntary sector with a focus on local people having a greater say and involvement in decision making. We also support Neighbourhood Watch schemes and Local Action Teams in the delivery of effective local activities to improve community safety.

North Somerset is an area of outstanding natural beauty and varied landscape and many local communities can easily access this environment for leisure and recreational pursuits. One of the main things that people value about living in North Somerset is access to the countryside and open spaces and this contributes to safer, stronger and healthier communities. However, particular areas of Weston-super-Mare are recognised as having high levels of disadvantage. The condition and understanding of the local environment is a key factor affecting local people’s quality of life. Neighbourhood management in South Ward, Weston-super-Mare, is a programme of activity driven by local people to improve services in that area, improve the local environment to encourage responsibility and ownership and to encourage greater opportunity to influence decisions made for the area.

In safer and stronger communities the community and voluntary sector has a major role to play across the District. Much work has been undertaken to develop the capacity and infrastructure of the voluntary and community sector in North Somerset. The recently-opened Badger Centre in Weston-super-Mare has created a high quality facility to focus this sector’s activity and build on the partnership approach developed through the formation of Voluntary Action in North Somerset (VANS). This in turn will support the strengthening of this sector and the ability to deliver and support other services, providing a strong voice for local groups and people and in turn will encourage the growth in income of the community and voluntary organisations and social enterprise.

Areas of focus for the Local Area Agreement

The Responsible Authorities Group, in its Safer Communities Strategy 2005-2008 identifies four key priorities: reducing drug-related crime, reducing alcohol-related violent crime, reducing anti-social behaviour, and increasing public reassurance and community participation. This work will continue to be developed throughout the life of this agreement, building on the achievements to date and also incorporating established priorities within the Community Strategy, the existing Safer and Stronger Communities Fund Agreement with Government, and the identified areas for development following our recent Corporate Performance Assessment in 2006.

Many areas of the broader Local Area Agreement impact on the Safer and Stronger block;

• Development of the Alcohol Strategy as part of the Healthy Communities and Older People block will impact on a reduction in violent crime
• Increased level of activity will divert young people away from anti-social behaviour or criminal damage as well as improving their health
• Young people’s achieving good educational outcomes benefit both the economy and leave them less vulnerable to crime
• Accessibility of safe play areas and opportunities will link with the specific work on Cleaner, Safer, Greener projects as part of work with children and young people
• The support for new social enterprises, will benefit the local economy and work to strengthen the community and voluntary sector
• One of the ways the number of people from groups experiencing social exclusion will be helped is through increased volunteering opportunities

The outcomes we will be focusing on in our agreement are:

· Reduce crime

· Reassure the public reducing the fear of crime

· Reduce the harm caused by illegal drugs

· Build respect in communities and reduce anti-social behaviour

· Empower local people to have a greater choice and influence our local decision making and a greater role in public service delivery

· Cleaner, greener and safer public spaces

· Reduce waste to landfill and increase recycling

· Tackling climate change through reduced greenhouse gas emissions

· Increased access to and enjoyment of green spaces and the countryside

· Improve quality of life for people in most disadvantaged neighbourhood; service providers more responsive to neighbourhood needs and improved service delivery

· Increase domestic fire safety and reduce arson

Stretch Outcomes

The following outcomes are the areas where we want to achieve stretching performance over the next three years.

Reduce crime	LAASS1ii	Increase the number of incidents of domestic violence reported annually to the Police
	Nationally the Government has set itself a target to reduce crime by 15% by 2008. Locally North Somerset has been set a target to reduce crime by 17.5% between 2005 and 2008. We recognise that domestic violence is a key crime where improvement would not only improve the quality of life for vulnerable people but would also help to meet this challenging target set by Government. Additional resources would therefore be invested to augment the work we currently undertake around domestic violence.
	LAASS1ii	Reduce the number of repeat incidents of domestic violence to those victims of domestic violence who are being managed by a multi-agency risk assessment conference (MARAC) system or equivalent
	See above
Empower local people to have a greater choice and influence over local decision making and a greater role in public service delivery	LAASS19	Increase the number of people recorded as or reporting that they have engaged in formal volunteering on an average of at least two hours per week over the last year
	National Lottery evidence shows organised community and voluntary activity is more poorly resourced than in other areas in our sub-region and that many groups are not developed sufficiently to meet their quality standards for funding. Change Up (national funding) research in our sub-region builds on the evidence of the National Lottery research and also highlights local need. Additional resources will enable the further development of the infrastructure of the voluntary and community sector which will have positive benefits for the local community.

Tackling Our Cross-cutting themes

The safer and stronger communities block contributes to our cross-cutting themes in the following ways:

Tackling inequalities: This block seeks to tackle inequality of outcome by undertaking targeted activity to reduce anti-social behaviour in key areas, targeting areas with a high prevalence of abandoned vehicles and by increasing resident satisfaction in our most deprived areas.

Creating healthy lifestyles: This block contributes to the broader aspects of creating healthy lifestyles by seeking to improve recycling rates, reduce waste being sent to landfill, improving our parks and reducing waste and litter on our streets.

Improving social capital: The stronger element of this block seeks to improve social capital by facilitating the growth of our voluntary organisations and empowering residents to play a role in shaping the services they are provided.

Appendix One: Outcome Tables

Children and Young People

*Stretch outcomes are in bold and underlined

Mandatory outcomes	Mandatory Indicators		Performance Indicator Code	Baselines 2006/07 (unless otherwise stated)	Targets 2007/08 (including any stretch targets, and their annual unstretched targets)	Targets 2008/09 (including any stretch targets, and their annual unstretched targets)	Targets 2009/10 (including any stretch targets, and their annual unstretched targets)	Delivery Partnership Lead Partner
Achieve economic well-being	Percentage of 16-18 year olds not in education, employment or training-altered to focus on the differential between Weston-super-Mare and the North Somerset average (Geographic specific)		LAACYP1	4.6% (2005-06) North Somerset has set itself a target of 4.5% for 2006-07	Without stretch 4.4%	Without stretch 4.3%	Without stretch 4.2%	Children’s Trust Management Board Connexions Nicola Burcham
					With stretch 4.3%	With stretch 4.2%	With stretch 4.0%
Be healthy	The percentage annual increase in the number of schools with an approved school travel plan (STP)		LAACYP2	75% (March 2006)	90%	95%	100%	Children’s Trust Management Board North Somerset Council Ruth Sanders Sustainable Travel Team Leader
Other outcomes	Other Indicators			Baselines 2006/07 (unless otherwise stated)	Targets 2007/08 (including any stretch targets, and their annual unstretched targets)	Targets 2008/09 (including any stretch targets, and their annual unstretched targets)	Targets 2009/10 (including any stretch targets, and their annual unstretched targets)	Lead Partner
Stay Safe	% of under 16’s who have been looked after for 2.5 or more years living in the same placement for at least 2 years or are placed for adoption		LAACYP3i	71%	Targets not set with DfES	Targets not set with DfES	Targets not set with DfES	Children’s Trust Management Board North Somerset Council Sheila French Performance and Planning Manager
	% of reported incidents of bullying which stop following effective intervention - by survey. First year would need to establish baseline and then work on following basis e.g. survey of Year 7s - X% say were bullied, measurement of Year 8 a year later shows a reduction. Moderation by Policy/ QA service within the Directorate.		LAACYP3ii	Baseline data will need to be established in February 2007 from a Bullying Survey the council will undertake. To date, there has been no statutory requirement for schools to share bullying data with the Local Authority	Without stretch 6% (6%)	Without stretch 7% (13%)	Without stretch 8% (21%)	Children’s Trust Management Board North Somerset Council Jan Richards EOTAS Service Manager
					With stretch 7% (7%)	With stretch 8% (15%)	With stretch 9% (24%)
Be healthy	Halt the year on year rise in obesity in North Somerset children under the age of 11years.	Total number of primary school aged children in Year R and Year 6 recorded as obese for their age in the past school year	LAACYP4i	183 (2005/06)	430	439	439	Children’s Trust Management Board North Somerset PCT Dali Sidebottom
		Total number of primary school age children in Year R and Year 6 height and weight recorded in the past school year	LAACYP4ii	1735 (2005/06)	3158	3158	3158
		Total number of primary school aged children in Year R and Year 6	LAACYP4iii	3938 (2005/06)	3938	3989	3938
		Percentage of children with height and weight recorded who are obese	LAACYP4iv	10.55% (2005/06)	13.62%	13.9%	13.9%
Enjoy and Achieve	% of 16 year olds achieving 5 A*-C GCSEs, including English and Maths. (geographic specific)		LAACYP5i	47.3% of 2293 pupils (1,084 pupils	Without stretch 47.9% (1,098)	Without stretch 48.5% (1,100)	Without stretch 49.1% (1,126)	Children’s Trust Management Board North Somerset Council – supported by Learning and Skills Council, Schools and Further Education establishment Paul Jacobs Principal Secondary Adviser
					With stretch 48.2% (1,105)	With stretch 48.9% (1,121)	With stretch 50.1% (1,149)
	Access to quality early years provision in the most deprived areas. Level of development reached at the end of the Foundation Stage including narrowing the gap in the 30% most disadvantaged SOAs (geographic specific)		LAACYP5ii	Baseline to be set during 2006/07	TBC	TBC	TBC	Children’s Trust Management Board North Somerset Council Gale Bruce School Development Adviser: Early Years
	Number of educational opportunities for young people delivered by arts organisations, architecture and heritage bodies, sports organisations, music services, museums and galleries		LAACYP5iii	Establish a single baseline figure for the indicator	TBC	TBC	TBC	Children’s Trust Management Board North Somerset Council Christine Rush Excellence Cluster Manager
	Accessibility of safe play areas and opportunities		LAACYP5iv	Average NPFA ‘Play value’ score 21 out of 89 Overall accessibility of 74%	Without stretch Average NPFA ‘Play value’ score 26 out of 89 Overall accessibility of 76%	Without stretch Average NPFA ‘Play value’ score 28 out of 89 Overall accessibility of 78%	Without stretch Average NPFA ‘Play value’ score 30 out of 89 Overall accessibility of 80%	Children’s Trust Management Board North Somerset Council Jenie Eastman Early Years and Childcare Manager
					With stretch Average NPFA ‘Play value’ score 27 out of 89 Overall accessibility of 77%	With stretch Average NPFA ‘Play value’ score 29 out of 89 Overall accessibility of 79%	With stretch Average NPFA ‘Play value’ score 31 out of 89 Overall accessibility of 81%
	Half days missed through absence		LAACYP5va	North Somerset 8.68 (secondary schools) (2005-06)	Without stretch 7.0	Without stretch Targets not set by DfES	Without stretch Targets not set by DfES	Children’s Trust Management Board North Somerset Council Sara Griffiths Principal Education Welfare Officer
					With stretch 6.7	TBC	TBC
			LAACYP5vb	North Somerset 5.36 (primary schools) (2005-06)	Without stretch 4.5	Targets not set by DfES	Targets not set by DfES
					With stretch 4.3	TBC	TBC
			LAACYP5vc	North Somerset Special Schools 7.03	Without stretch 7.0	Targets not set by DfES	Targets not set by DfES
					With stretch 6.8	TBC	TBC
Achieve economic well-being	Increasing and establishing new pathways for learning	% of 16-19 year olds achieving Level 2 or equivalent	LAACYP6ia	70%	71%	72%	73%	Children’s Trust Management Board Learning and Skills Council Sara Marshall Partnership Manager
		% of young people embarking upon apprenticeship training	LAACYP6ib	620	644	668	696
		Number of young people achieving essential (Skills 4 Life) qualification	LAACYP6ic	1300	1352	1408	1464
	No of vulnerable people living in social housing and the private rented sector in homes in a decent condition - amended to reflect young people, not all people.		LAACYP6ii	29.4%	33%	36.5%	40%	Strategic Housing Forum North Somerset Council Howard Evans Team Leader – Renewals

Funding Streams

Funding Streams	Allocation
	Allocation (2007-08)	Allocation (2008-09)	Allocation (2009-10)
Children’s Services Grant	511,000	TBC	TBC
Key Stage 3 – Behaviour and Attendance	68,000	TBC	TBC
Key Stage 3  - Central Co-ordination	130,000
School Travel Advisers	23,000
Primary Strategy Central Co-ordination	147,000	TBC	TBC
Extended School Grant	301,000	TBC	TBC
School Development Grant (Local authority retained element only)	TBC	TBC	TBC
Healthy Schools Budget	TBC	TBC	TBC
Choosing Health money may be available in the future	TBC	TBC	TBC
Connexions	TBC	TBC	TBC
Big Lottery Fund	TBC	TBC	TBC
Large Scale Voluntary Transfer in relation to play	TBC	TBC	TBC
Behaviour Improvement Programme	TBC	TBC	TBC
Targeted School Meals Grant	TBC	TBC	TBC

Enabling Measures

Proposed enabling measures

No enabling measures

Economic Development and Enterprise

*Stretch outcomes are in bold and underlined

Other outcomes	Other Indicators		Baselines 2006/07 (unless otherwise stated)	Targets 2007/08 (including any stretch targets, and their annual unstretched targets)	Targets 2008/09 (including any stretch targets, and their annual unstretched targets)	Targets 2009/10 (including any stretch targets, and their annual unstretched targets)	Lead Partner
Increasing skills	Number of people assisted in their skills development – number of adults who are supported in achieving at least a full first level 2 qualification or equivalent (District wide with priority going to south and central ward Weston-super-Mare)	LAAEDE1i	800 (Academic year 2005-06) (Weston College)	Without stretch 900	Without stretch 1015	Without stretch 1145	Economy and Employment Partnership Learning and Skills Council Sara Marshall Partnership Manager
				With stretch 920	With stretch 1060	With stretch 1220
	Number of people assisted in their skills development – skills levels in particular sectors (District wide with priority going to south and central ward Weston-super-Mare)	LAAEDE1ii	People aged 16-74 with no qualifications (2001 Census): South – 3,006 Central – 1,451 South & Central wards -126 apprenticeships (2005/06) 39% not in learning at end on 05/06 compared to 37% for North Somerset.	To be agreed with Learning and Skills Council during October 2006.	TBC	TBC	Economy and Employment Partnership Learning and Skills Council Sara Marshall Partnership Manager
	Number of people assisted in their skills development – number of adults gaining basic skills as part of the skills for life strategy (District wide with priority going to south and central ward Weston-super-Mare)	LAAEDE1iii	Participation is 800 during 2005/06 academic year (Weston College)	900 (academic year)	990 (academic year)	1090 (academic year)	Economy and Employment Partnership Learning and Skills Council Sara Marshall Partnership Manager
Increasing enterprise	Number of new businesses created and demonstrating growth after 12 months (District wide with priority going to south and central ward Weston-super-Mare) This PI to focus on social enterprises	LAAEDE2i	330 not-for-profit organisations responding to the North Somerset Council audit from south & central wards	TBC	TBC	TBC	Economy and Employment Partnership Business West Supported by VANS and North Somerset Council Angela Hicks General Manager
	New social enterprise	LAAEDE2ii	Baseline TBC following event to be held on 28.09.06	TBC	TBC	TBC	Economy and Employment Partnership North Somerset Council Simon Gregory Community Strategy and Regeneration Manager
	Business satisfaction with business support provision The aim is to build on the “Retail Enforcement Pilot” project concept but to apply this across a wider business sectors. Emphasis will be placed on educating businesses which targets poor performers and reducing burden of regulations and inspections on businesses.	LAAEDE2iii	Baseline TBC - to address regulatory services S2937 visits were undertaken during 05/06 with sample satisfaction rates at XX??	TBC	TBC	TBC	Economy and Employment Partnership North Somerset Council Mandy Bishop Environment and Consumer Services Group Manager
Increase employment	Number of people moving off inactive benefits (Geographic specific)	LAAEDE3	45 people off inactive benefit and into sustainable jobs `	Without stretch 50	Without stretch 55	Without stretch 60	Economy and Employment Partnership North Somerset Council TBC
				With stretch 81	With stretch 91	With stretch 100
Reduce congestion	Thousands of bus passenger journeys (i.e. boarding’s) per year in the authority	LAAEDE4i	4,457,000 to nearest thousand for North Somerset, 55,226,000 for the JLTP area (2003-04)	0.5% increase (55,502,000)	1.0% increase (56,057,000)	0.5% increase (56,337,000)	West of England Partnership Office North Somerset Council Ruth Sanders Sustainable Travel Team Leader
	Number of cycling trips across the authority	LAAEDE4ii	Indexed to 100 (2003-04)	118	122	126	West of England Partnership Office North Somerset Council Ruth Sanders Sustainable Travel Team Leader

Funding Streams

Funding Streams	Allocation
	Allocation (2007-08)	Allocation (2008-09)	Allocation (2009-10)
New Growth Points Funding	TBC	TBC	TBC
North Somerset Council Ready4Work	TBC	TBC	TBC
Planning Delivery Grant	TBC	TBC	TBC
Learning and Skills Council Funding Streams (tbc)	TBC	TBC	TBC
Business West	TBC	TBC	TBC
North Somerset Council: Service Budgets (Environment & Community Services)	TBC	TBC	TBC
North Somerset Council: Service Budgets (Economic Development & Regeneration)	TBC	TBC	TBC

Enabling Measures

Proposed enabling measures

No enabling measures

Healthier Communities and Older People

*Stretch outcomes are in bold and underlined

Mandatory outcomes	Mandatory Indicators		Performance Indicator Code	Baselines 2006/07 (unless otherwise stated)		Targets 2007/08 (including any stretch targets, and their annual unstretched targets)	Targets 2008/09 (including any stretch targets, and their annual unstretched targets)	Targets 2009/10 (including any stretch targets, and their annual unstretched targets)	Lead Partner
Improve the health of people in North Somerset and reduce health inequalities	Narrow the gap in all age all cause mortality (Geographic specific)		LAAHCOP1i	Baseline info for South Ward being prepared from national/ regional stats – awaiting confirmation these figures are available in South Ward		Target for South Ward work funded by SSCF NE and CSG to be set by NM Board following known baseline	TBC	TBC	Health and Well-being Strategic Partnership North Somerset PCT Mary Hart Head of Health Improvement
Other outcomes	Other Indicators			Baselines 2006/07 (unless otherwise stated)		Targets 2007/08 (including any stretch targets, and their annual unstretched targets)	Targets 2008/09 (including any stretch targets, and their annual unstretched targets)	Targets 2009/10 (including any stretch targets, and their annual unstretched targets)	Lead Partner
Improve the health of people in North Somerset and reduce health inequalities	Increase the number of recorded obese individuals losing weight through a personalised weight management programme. Reduction in body weight of 5%+ or %kg+ by adults aged 15-75 years with BMI of 30+ on completion of an evidence-based weight management programme (Half stretch)		LAAHCOP1ii	0 (2005-06) Target is 120 persons achieving indicator over 2007-10 including at least 50% from the most deprived areas		Without stretch 0	Without stretch 0	Without stretch 0	Health and Well-being Strategic Partnership North Somerset PCT Mary Hart Head of Health Improvement
						With stretch 25 (25) Cumulative figures in brackets	With stretch 50 (75) Cumulative figures in brackets	With stretch 45 (120) Cumulative figures in brackets
	The increase in the proportion of adults in the general population of North Somerset achieving at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity at least three times a week		LAAHCOP1iii	116,382		Without stretch 116,382 (0% increase)	Without stretch 116,382 (0% increase)	Without stretch 116,382 (0% increase)	Culture, Leisure and Recreation Partnership North Somerset Council David Lawrence Assistant Director North Somerset PCT Mental Health organisations
						With stretch 118,710 (2% cumulative increase)	With stretch 119,897 (3% cumulative increase)	With stretch 121,096 (4% cumulative increase)
	The increase in the proportion of adults in deprived geographic areas achieving at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity at least three times a week	South ward, Weston-super-Mare	LAAHCOP1iva	6,128		Without stretch 6,128 (0% increase)	Without stretch 6,128 (0% increase)	Without stretch 6,128 (0% increase)
						With stretch 6,251 (2% cumulative increase)	With stretch 6,376 (4% cumulative increase)	With stretch 6,504 (6% cumulative increase)
		Central ward. Weston-super-Mare	LAAHCOP1ivb	3,679		Without stretch 3,679 (0% increase)	Without stretch 3,679 (0% increase)	Without stretch 3,679 (0% increase)
						With stretch 3,753 (2% increase)	With stretch 3,828 (4% increase)	With stretch 3,905 (6% increase)
	The increase in the proportion of groups with poor health outcomes achieving at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity at least three times a week. These groups to include	Adults with mental health issues	LAAHCOP1va	430		Without stretch 430 (0% increase)	Without stretch 430 (0% increase)	Without stretch 430 (0% increase)
						With stretch 439 (2% cumulative increase)	With stretch 448 (4% cumulative increase)	With stretch 457 (6% cumulative increase)
		Adults with learning difficulties	LAAHCOP1vb	440		Without stretch 440 (0% increase)	Without stretch 440 (0% increase)	Without stretch 440 (0% increase)
						With stretch 449 (2% cumulative increase)	With stretch 458 (4% cumulative increase)	With stretch 467 (6% cumulative increase)
		Carers	LAAHCOP1vc	1100		Without stretch 1100 (0% increase)	Without stretch 1100 (0% increase)	Without stretch 1100 (0% increase)
						With stretch 1122 (2% cumulative increase)	With stretch 1144 (4% cumulative increase)	With stretch 1167 (6% cumulative increase)
		Looked after children	LAAHCOP1vd	161		Without stretch 161 (0% increase)	Without stretch 161 (0% increase)	Without stretch 161 (0% increase)
						With stretch 164 (2 % cumulative increase)	With stretch 167 (4% cumulative increase)	With stretch 170 (6% cumulative increase)
	Improve carers’ health and awareness of health issues affecting carers. (Geographic specific)		LAAHCOP1vi	35		50	75	100	Health and Well-being Strategic Partnership North Somerset Council Heather Whittle Adult Social Care Manager
	Number of 4 week quitters from deprived areas and number of 4 week quitters from groups with poor health outcomes (Half stretch)	Increase the number of successful 4 week quitters in North Somerset, with an increased proportion coming from the most deprived quintile of North Somerset.	LAAHCOP1viia	Number of 4 week quitters	1293	Without stretch 1300	Without stretch 1300	Without stretch 1300	Health and Well-being Strategic Partnership North Somerset PCT Mary Hart Head of Health Improvement
						With stretch 1382	With stretch 1397	With stretch 1421
			LAAHCOP1viib	Proportion from most deprived quintile	28 %	Without stretch 28%	Without stretch 28%	Without stretch 28%
						With stretch 31.4%	With stretch 31.8%	With stretch 32.7%
			LAAHCOP1viic	Number from most deprived quintile	362	Without stretch 364	Without stretch 364	Without stretch 364
						With stretch 434	With stretch 444	With stretch 464
		Increase the number of successful 4 week quitters in North Somerset, with an increased proportion coming groups with high smoking prevalence	LAAHCOP1viid	No Mental Health Service Users who have used smoking cessation services	3	Without stretch 3	Without stretch 3	Without stretch 3
						With stretch 40	With stretch 50	With stretch 60
			LAAHCOP1viie	No of mental health service users who have quit at 4 weeks	0	Without stretch 0	Without stretch 0	Without stretch 0
						With stretch 12	With stretch 17	With stretch 21
	Decrease the number of children exposed to second hand smoke in the home by increasing the number of Clean Air for Kids pledges		LAAHCOP2i	Number signing pledge 50		Number signing pledge 50	Number signing pledge 50	Number signing pledge 50	Health and Well-being Strategic Partnership North Somerset PCT Mary Hart Head of Health Improvement
			LAAHCOP2ii	Proportion Complying with pledge 50%		Proportion Complying with pledge 50%	Proportion Complying with pledge 50%	Proportion Complying with pledge 50%
			LAAHCOP2iii	Increased number of smoke free household 25		Increased number of smoke free household 25	Increased number of smoke free household 25	Increased number of smoke free household 25
	Increase the % of people in contact with drug misuse services who are tested for blood borne viruses	Screening and advice	LAAHCOP2iva	311		339	350	375	Health and Well-being Strategic Partnership North Somerset PCT supported by North Somerset Council Mary Hart Head of Health Improvement
		Referred for testing	LAAHCOP2ivb	311		339	350	370
		Number tested	LAAHCOP2ivc	205		223	250	275
		Number completing vaccination HBV	LAAHCOP2ivd	102		112	120	150
Reduce alcohol abuse	Reduction in alcohol specific and alcohol related admissions to hospitals		LAAHCOP3i	Baseline (2004/05) 1756 hospital admission attributable to alcohol Estimated rate per 100,000 population 750		825 (+10%)	907 (+10%)	997 (+10%)	Health and Well-being Strategic Partnership North Somerset PCT Mary Hart Head of Health Improvement
	Number of test purchases operations under age sales – focused on anti social behaviour hotspots (Geographic specific)		LAAHCOP3ii	3		3	3	3	Health and Well-being Strategic Partnership North Somerset Council Mandy Bishop Environment and Consumer Services Manager
Increase choice and control	Prevention services to proactively support older people before the point of crisis	Rate of admissions of older people to care homes	LAAHCOP4ia	91 per 10,000 of population aged 65+ (2005/06)		83 per 10,000 of population aged 65+	81 per 10,000 of population aged 65+	79 per 10,000 of population aged 65+	Health and Well-being Strategic Partnership North Somerset Council Heather Whittle Adult Social Care Manager
		Assessment of quality of life of OP via DH home care/DP survey	LAAHCOP4ib	66.5% (2005/06)		68%	70%	72%
		Rate of People supported at home with non care managed services and numbers of people moving from these to formal services	LAAHCOP4ic	22 per 1000 population aged 65+ (2005/06)		24 per 1000 population aged 65+	26 per 1000 population aged 65+	28 per 1000 population aged 65+
		Rate of older people helped to live at home	LAAHCOP4id	72 per 100 population 65+ (2005/06)		76 per 100 population 65+	78 per 100 population 65+	80 per 100 population 65+
		Survey of OP satisfaction with general council services relevant to the them (could be done via Citizens’ Panel)	LAAHCOP4ie	Baseline to be established through the Citizens panel with targets sets in year 1		TBC	TBC	TBC
		Rate of provision of carers DP’s, carers’ services more generally and short breaks.	LAAHCOP4if	13.07 (2005/06)		16.0	17.0	18.0
		Places available in very sheltered and extra care housing	LAAHCOP4ig	127 (2005/06)				225 (cumulative target to be met by year 3)
Improve the quality of Life for older people	Reduce the number of people aged 75 and over admitted to hospital as a result of falls		LAAHCOP5i	1023 (2005/6)		1176	1330	1330	Health and Well-being Strategic Partnership North Somerset PCT Mary Hart Head of Health Improvement
	Number of adults and older people with self-directed support packages		LAAHCOP5ii	119 people (8.33%) (March 2006)		Without stretch 141 (9.9%)	Without stretch 151 (10.5%)	Without stretch 161 (11.25%)	Health and Well-being Strategic Partnership North Somerset Council Margaret Newman Development and Planning Manager
						With stretch 163 (11.4%)	With stretch 215 (15%)	With stretch 286 (20%)
Increase personal dignity	Increase the number of vulnerable people living in decent homes whether they are social housing or privately owned		LAAHCOP6	40.6%		43.5%	47%	50%	Strategic Housing Forum North Somerset Council Howard Evans Team Leader – Renewals
Improve quality of life	Increase the % of the total length of rights of way which are easy to use by the general public		LAAHCOP7	72.1%		75%	80%	85%	Environment Partnership North Somerset Council Adrian Akester Area Manager Environment Management
Achieve economic well-being	Reduce the number of vulnerable people living in fuel poverty		LAAHCOP8i	5663 households in fuel poverty		1250 households taken out of fuel poverty each year 1250 (cumulative)	1250 households taken out of fuel poverty each year 2500 (cumulative)	1250 households taken out of fuel poverty each year 3750 (cumulative)	Strategic Housing Forum North Somerset Council Howard Evans Team Leader – Renewals
	Increase the energy efficiency level of housing occupied by vulnerable people measured by successful referrals to the warm front		LAAHCOP8ii	156 (2005/06)		208	312	468	Strategic Housing Forum North Somerset Council Howard Evans Team Leader – Renewals
Develop social capital and reduce social isolation	Number of people from groups experiencing social exclusion (particularly older people) using local facilities such as libraries, educational courses, leisure facilities, volunteering and participating more in the community generally paying particular attention to the number of new visits/introductions		LAAHCOP9	Participation data for excluded groups by service type is being collated but will not be available to form a robust baseline before mid October		Targets will be developed by excluded group, service and visit type	TBC	TBC	TBC

Funding Streams

Funding Streams	Allocation
Community Care Budget	Allocation (2007-08)	Allocation (2008-09)	Allocation (2009-10)
Integrated Community Equipment Services Budget	TBC	TBC	TBC
Adaptations for Disabled People Budget	TBC	TBC	TBC
Customer Access Programme	TBC	TBC	TBC
Mainstream community care funding	TBC	TBC	TBC
ICES budget	TBC	TBC	TBC
Disabled Facilities Grant	TBC	TBC	TBC
Carers grant	TBC	TBC	TBC
Commissioned services budget	TBC	TBC	TBC
NORTH SOMERSET PCT LDP	TBC	TBC	TBC
North Somerset Council funding for general services of relevant to older people	TBC	TBC	TBC
Supporting People Budget	5,580,000	TBC	TBC
Capital funding for housing developments accessible by RSL’s	TBC	TBC	TBC
Choosing health trainer money for work with mental health service users	TBC	TBC	TBC
Neighbourhood Management funds for Clean Air for Kids	TBC	TBC	TBC
Align PCT smoking cessation monies with these priorities.	TBC	TBC	TBC
Choosing Health Money for weight management programmes	TBC	TBC	TBC
Health Trainer money	TBC	TBC	TBC
Neighbour Management funds	TBC	TBC	TBC
If successful the POPP bid funding will also contribute in the short term to this agenda and will create savings elsewhere in the system which will lead to sustainable preventive services across both the local health community the Council and the Community and Voluntary sector.	TBC	TBC	TBC
NORTH SOMERSET COUNCIL Community Care Funding	TBC	TBC	TBC
Delayed Discharge Grant	TBC	TBC	TBC
Telecare Grant	TBC	TBC	TBC

Enabling Measures

Proposed enabling measures

No enabling measures

Safer and Stronger Communities

*Stretch outcomes are in bold and underlined

Mandatory outcomes	Mandatory Indicators	Performance indicator code	Baselines 2006/07 (unless otherwise stated)	Targets 2007/08 (including any stretch targets, and their annual unstretched targets)	Targets 2008/09 (including any stretch targets, and their annual unstretched targets)	Targets 2009/10 (including any stretch targets, and their annual unstretched targets)	Lead Partner
Reduce crime	Reduction in overall British Crime Survey recorded crime (PSA1) (Geographic specific)	LAASS1i	Baseline year 2003-4	17.9% reduction by March 2008 (against baseline year of 2003-4	Not yet agreed	Not yet agreed	Crime and Drug Reduction Partnership North Somerset Council, Avon and Somerset Constabulary Gina Dormer Community Safety and DAT Manager
	Sub performance indicator: Increase the number of incidents of domestic violence reported annually to the Police	LAASS1ii	Baseline to be established. Domestic Abuse Co-ordinator currently consulting with Domestic Abuse Forum and Police around agreeing baselines and setting targets for the next three years	Without stretch TBC	Without stretch TBC	Without stretch TBC
				With Stretch TBC	With Stretch TBC	With Stretch TBC
	Sub performance indicator: Reduce the number of repeat incidents of domestic violence to those victims of domestic violence who are being managed by a multi-agency risk assessment conference (MARAC) system or equivalent	LAASS1iii	Baseline to be established. Domestic Abuse Co-ordinator currently consulting with Domestic Abuse Forum and Police around agreeing baselines and setting targets for the next three years	Without stretch TBC	Without stretch TBC	Without stretch TBC
				With Stretch TBC	With Stretch TBC	With Stretch TBC
	Reduce the proportion of adult and young offenders and prolific and other priority offenders who re-offend	LAASS1iv	Establishing baselines with DIP/PPO Youth Justice Plan 2006-07 (using key performance indicator for reoffending in 2006-07)	TBC TBC	TBC TBC	TBC TBC	Crime and Drug Reduction Partnership North Somerset Council Mike Rees Youth Offending Team Manager
Reassure the public, reducing the fear of crime	Increase the number of incidents of domestic violence reported annually to the Police	LAASS2i	Baseline to be established. Domestic Abuse Co-ordinator currently consulting with Domestic Abuse Forum and Police around agreeing baselines and setting targets for the next three years	TBC	TBC	TBC	Crime and Drug Reduction Partnership North Somerset Council Gina Dormer Community Safety and DAT Manager
	Reduce the percentage of local people who feel drunk or rowdy behaviour is a serious problem in:	LAASS2ii	Citizens panel (February 2006)
	North Somerset	LAASS2iiA	44%	42%	40%	38%
	Their neighbourhood	LAASS2iiB	20%	18%	16%	14%
	That it has a direct impact on their life	LAASS2iiC	12%	11%	10%	9%
	Reduce the percentage of local people who feel drug using or dealing is a serious problem in:	LAASS2iii	Citizens panel (February 2006)
	North Somerset	LAASS2iiiA	65%	63%	61%	59%
	Their neighbourhood	LAASS2iiiB	24%	22%	20%	18%
	That it has a direct impact on their life	LAASS2iiiC	12%	11%	10%	9%
	Reduce the percentage of local people who feel vandalism, graffiti and other criminal damage are a serious problem in:	LAASS2iv	Panel February 2006)
	North Somerset	LAASS2ivA	54%	52%	50%	48%
	Their neighbourhood	LAASS2ivB	28%	26%	24%	22%
	That it has a direct impact on their life	LAASS2ivC	15%	14%	13%	12%
	Increase the percentage of community groups who feel that overall crime and disorder has ‘got better’ (rather than stayed the same or got worse) in the last 12 months	LAASS2ivD	15% (Local Action Teams, Neighbourhood Watch, Town & Parish Councils survey 2006)	17%	22%	27%
Reduce the harm caused by illegal drugs	Reduce the public perceptions of local drug dealing and drug use as a problem	LAASS3i	24% (Citizens Panel, February 2006) – neighbourhood level	22%	20%	18%	Crime and Drug Reduction Partnership North Somerset Council Gina Dormer Community Safety and DAT Manager
	Increase the number of problematic drug users in treatment	LAASS3ii	Baseline information to be used from 2005-06 treatment plan	TBC	TBC	TBC
	Increase the percentage of people retained in treatment for 12 weeks or more	LAASS3iii	Baseline information to be used from 2005-06 treatment plan	TBC	TBC	TBC
	Reduce waiting times in line with national targets	LAASS3iv