the partnership of CVS across Devon
What is the LAA?
What is a Local Area Agreement (LAA)?
It's a 3-year agreement between the Government and Devon to deliver a series of outcomes for the County. By working with a range of partners in a new way, the LAA will enable the voluntary and community sector to help in delivering the long-term vision of improving life in the County.
The LAA is led by the County strategic partnership (Devon Strategic Partnership) and Devon County
Council, working closely with districts and local strategic partnerships.
Partnership working requires your engagement - Get involved!
What are the benefits for Devon?
Local strategic partnerships able to work ‘with teeth’
greater accountability to local people
simplified funding arrangements
reduced ring-fencing of resources, for local flexibility
freedom from some ‘red tape’.
What is covered by a Local Area Agreement?
All LAAs are structured around these four ‘blocks’:
- Children and young people
- Healthier communities and older people
- Safe and stronger communities
- Economic development and enterprise
The voluntary and community sector has an interest in all these blocks because it includes
service providers, user representatives etc..
It also has an interest in cross-cutting issues
(i.e. those relating to more than one ‘block’) such as environment, equality and access to services.
Is there funding in this?
There is no new funding associated with an LAA except for a small amount of money to help deliver the stretch targets at the start of the agreement. The main change is the ability to align funding streams that are currently distributed separately, each with different procedures and regulations. Aligning funds to deliver the LAA outcomes brings greater local flexibility and may relax some performance and financial management requirements. This is where voluntary and community sector engagement is important, as those of us which are service provider organisations will want to have a say in how mainstream funding is brought in for local needs and issues.
Useful links:
Devon Local Area Agreement website
Devon Strategic Partnership website
