Local Public Service Agreement Pilot

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Local Public Service Agreement Round One (Pilot)

Introduction
What is a Public Service agreement?
The Tameside Targets for 2004
What are the Financial Benefits?
What flexibilities have we been given?
What will the money be used for?
What's next?
Summary of Performance

Full PSA Document 262.4 KB

Tameside taking the lead in new Government Scheme

Tameside has become one of the first councils in the country to sign a Local Public Service Agreement with Government.

Tameside was chosen by the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions and HM Treasury as one of only 20 councils nationally to be a Local Public Service Agreement Pilot Authority.

We are the only national PSA pilot in Greater Manchester and one of only two from the North West (the other being Blackburn with Darwen).

What is a Public Service Agreement?

Local PSAs are a partnership agreement between individual local authorities and the Government.

They are intended to improve key outcomes more quickly and/or to a higher level than would otherwise be the case,
for people living in the authority's area.

The Agreement is expected to run for three years from 2001/2 to the end of 2003/4. The Council have agreed 12 targets with Government.

The majority had to match up with national priority areas around for example education, social care and transport but with some local measures e.g. increasing benefit take-up among older people.

The Tameside Targets for 2004

E-Government

Making all our services available electronically
Creating a fivefold increase in local people getting Information Communication Technology training

Housing

Improving the quality of all Tameside's social housing beyond national targets
Making social housing easier and quicker to access by creating a single joint register for all social landlords to reduce nomination times

Schools

Increasing the number of pupils achieving five GCSEs
Improving pupil achievement in those groups that have traditionally underachieved - a 10% improvement in English and Maths for 11 year olds from Bangladeshi or Pakistani origin
Halving truancy levels in Secondary schools

Older People

Doubling the number of older people receiving intensive homecare so they can live independently in their own homes
Making sure that over 90% of all occupational therapy equipment and adaptations are installed in people's home in three weeks or less
Making sure more older people receive their Minimum Income Guarantee entitlement - up to 85% by 2004

Road Safety

Reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads by 17% - and halve it in the next 7 years

Overall Performance

Increasing our overall cost effectiveness by over 2% per annum

What are the financial benefits?

The Council will be given £1million in 'pump priming' money to help achieve those enhanced targets.

If we achieve those the Government will also provide the Council with an additional grant of up to £5.2million, although the receipt of this money will be some way off.

Being a PSA pilot also entitles the Council to apply to the Government for Additional Unsupported Credit Approvals.

The Council has been granted an additional £1.7 million to be used to support the achievement of its transport, housing and social care targets.

What flexibilities have we been given?

As well as receiving additional money, in return for achieving the PSA targets, the Government has agreed to cut unnecessary, centralised bureaucracy that gets in the way of us improving services.

Some of those flexibilities include:

Working with Government to develop new electronic ways of data sharing
Potentially becoming a national pilot help to drive forward the early delivery of electronic public services
Discussion on removing benefit barriers that act against older people living independently
More joined up working between the Benefits Agency and the Council to make sure older people are receiving benefit entitlement
Long term budget planning for education grants
Use of speeding fines to help reduce traffic accidents
A commitment to more joint working between the Highways Agency, local Police and Council in tackling road safety.

What will the pump-priming money be used for ?

Key features include:

Development of ICT training centres
Development of new joint IT systems across the main social landlords and other partners
Provision of a new one stop shop for all social housing tenants
More occupational therapy equipment and intensive homecare packages for people aged over 65
New electronic registration systems for schools with high truancy levels
New speed reduction schemes at accident black spots
More training for class room assistants in schools with a high proportion of Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage children
New GNVQ accredited out of hours learning ICT scheme and the development of out of school clubs in local community buildings

What's Next ?

The Agreement will run for 3 years. Each target has been built into the Best Value Performance Plan and progress will be audited by District Audit. And if we achieve the targets we will get an additional grant of £5.2 million, equivalent to 2.5% of the Council’s budget.