Local Government White Paper

No, my Lords, I do not agree at all. If the noble Lord reads the introduction to the White Paper and the prefaces of the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State, he will find the right to be different written through it in the most powerful and compelling way. I hope this is not a case of the Liberals believing that we have taken over part of their agenda and feeling sore about it. This is a serious attempt to make local area agreements work better. The noble Lord is right that they have not been working as well as they might, partly because they were imposed on top of a lot of other forms and functions. We have responded again to the Local Government Association; it has told us that this is one way to liberate the potential for every local area to live up to what its community wants. The local area agreement will be a statutory document, but it will be agreed locally. It will be underpinned by the local strategic partnership, which, for the first time, will have duties attached to work with its partners across local government. It is significant that every Whitehall department has signed up to this White Paper, and that is reflected on the ground. This is a radical departure from how things have been done. There will be more pots of money in the local area agreements and more policies to be agreed. The delivery of social care involves so many different agencies, not least the voluntary and community sector, but we will have a platform and a power to bring these people together. It will be done under the agreed outcomes at national level. We have to have those—they are our national priorities, whether it is higher achievement for young people or better public health. Every local area will have 35 targets which it negotiates itself. That is what will make the difference in the character of the policy and delivery, which will make the difference for local people. The voice of local people will be heard in a way it has not been heard before.