Newcastle's Local Area Agreement (LAA) & Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS)

PLEASE NOTE NEWCASTLE IS CURRENTLY REFRESHING IT'S SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY STRATEGY, THE NEW VERSION WILL BE AVAILABLE FROM MARCH 2010.

What’s a Local Area Agreement (LAA)?
Local Area Agreements (LAAs) set out the priorities for a local area (Newcastle) agreed between Central Government, the Local Strategic Partnership, the Local Authority and other key partners within the local area. 

LAAs simplify some central funding, help join up public services more effectively and allow greater flexibility for local solutions to local circumstances. 

Through these means, LAAs are helping to devolve decision making, move away from a 'Whitehall knows best' philosophy and reduce bureaucracy.

What’s a Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS)?
All local authorities have a duty to work with partner organisations to produce a Sustainable Community Strategy. The strategy shows how local organisations will work together to improve the economic, social and environmental well-being of the people in their area.

The aim of the strategy is not to provide a comprehensive list of all the different activities going on to improve the city, but rather to set out the key priorities for change and actions to deliver them.

Timeline:
Newcastle has completed work on its new Local Area Agreement and Sustainable Community Strategy documents. The LAA sets out a number of national and local priorities (known as outcomes) that partners will work together to achieve during the next three years (2008-11).

In effect the LAA will be the delivery plan for the first three-years of Newcastle's long term vision (set out in the Sustainable Community Strategy).

Newcastle's new Sustainable Community Strategy & Local Area Agreement 2008-11
Newcastle's SCS & LAA Summary Document 2008-11

Following the first review and refresh of the LAA targets, the following revised targets have now been agreed for 2008-11 - please see following link
Newcastle's LAA refreshed targets

The SCS contains some references to the LDF Core Strategy at its submission stage of development - please see the following link for the latest update on development of the city's Core Strategy Newcastle's Core Strategy

If you would like any further information on the LAA, please contact Phil Hunter (tel: 0191 2777802 or email philip.hunter@newcastle.gov.uk).