Local Area Agreements (LAAs) are written agreements which set out how public, voluntary and private sector bodies within an area will work together to improve the quality of life for residents over a three year period.  They are viewed as a three year action plan for delivering the Sustainable Community Strategy and aim to improve services in local areas by better co-ordination between central government, local authorities and partners.

The agreement lays out the priority outcomes for an area and contains up to 35 indicators which measure the achievement of those outcomes. The Bath & North East Somerset LAA is comprised of 28 indicators, known as designated targets. The LAA refresh for 2009/10 has now been completed.

The foundation for the B&NES LAA is the story of the area as set out in the Council’s Corporate Plan.  It highlights the challenges that the area is facing and the Council’s priorities in addressing them.  From the overarching B&NES story, six “theme” stories have been developed to expand on the challenges. These stories make reference to the detailed evidence base that justifies why an issue has been raised and why an indicator has been proposed for the Local Area Agreement.   

Closing the gap between the most affluent and deprived neighbourhoods and raising attainment and ambition across all communities is a key cross–cutting theme in the LAA, along with reducing health inequalities and climate change.