Questioning authority - How government got joined up

Paul Kelly investigates the new and bewildering world of Local Area Agreements
Act 1 Scene 1: Whitehall: Government Ministers are sitting gloomily around a table. They are faced with disadvantaged and unhealthy communities. No matter how much money they throw at them, the problems dont seem to go away.

Act 1 Scene 2: A theatre somewhere in England: an artistic director is sitting despondently in his office chatting with a colleague. Look, he says. Ive got more social commitment than most people have had bus trips and the work were doing is great. But we are just not able to connect with the community in the way Id like. Theres all this government money out there, I hear the whoosh of it as it rushes past. And there are all these people out there who are not coming to our shows. We know people will love what we do if they see it, but we cant engage with them as we cant get the money. Its like being perpetually stuck in a box.

Act 1 Scene 3: Whitehall: A bunch of civil servants are pondering a similar problem. One pipes up, Central government is putting money in here and local government is putting money in there and they seem to be doing the same thing but they are not working together.

Yes, says another I know a local authority where Childrens Services manages 47 different funding streams.

I know, says a third, Why dont we pool all these sums of money and see if they can work more effectively together. But that would mean the police would have to work with the health service, and with neighbourhood wardens and with probation officers and obviously with local authority chief executives and with their new Local Strategic Partnerships. Thats radical! Will it work?

Well, says a fourth, Perhaps we could get our regional government offices to pull them all together and make it work. Itll give them something to do and theatres and arts centres could play a role in all of this, and& but the others have all excitedly left the room by this stage to go and phone their press officers.

Act 2: The Local Area Agreement (LAA) is born. A select group of Local Authorities are given three months and a blank sheet of paper to negotiate agreements with government offices that will achieve measurable improvements against John Prescotts four targets of children and younger people, safer and stronger communities, healthier communities, and older people and economic development and a new way of working is born.

The End

Well, not quite...

The LAA is one of the most significant public policy initiatives of recent years. And in the longer term, these agreements could become one of the main ways of delivering local services and funding to local authorities and areas. LAAs seek to support the development of genuinely sustainable communities and devolved forms of local governance through the building of a new, more flexible and responsive relationship between central and local government. Two rounds of these have been launched and a third round has just been announced to start next financial year.

Despite the fact that artists, arts organisations and arts officers have an important role to play within this development, culture didnt feature very highly in the first round of the agreements. But, thankfully, lessons have since been learnt, and many authorities have begun to address arts and culture in an increasingly ambitious way through reflecting the cultural contribution to a wide range of shared priorities.

The government has now helpfully released guidance that lists an optional cultural outcome to Enrich individual lives, strengthen communities and improve places where people live through culture and sport, including libraries and the historic environment. This gives arts managers in arts organisations and local authorities something to get their teeth into.

So, what do you need to know to take advantage of the opportunities? There are several things: First, you need to have a project or an idea that will engage with a mainstream issue like health or education or crime. Second, you need to show that you can make a measurable difference this is the most difficult bit and it is vital. To prove this you are going to have to look at something called floor targets, which all local authorities have produced showing what and where their social problems are. Finally, you are going to have to work with your local authority arts officer to persuade local authority policy officers and Local Strategic Partnerships that the arts can deliver results.

The reward if you achieve this will be a new engagement with communities and the possibility of quite significant no-strings reward budgets at the end of three years. Oh, and if you succeed, you will also get a whole range of new audiences who will know your organisation and want to work with you. And that cant be bad, can it?