Chapter 24: Local Government

The purpose of this Local Government Public Service Agreement is to draw together targets appearing elsewhere in the PSA White Paper, which the Government relies on local authorities and their local partners to deliver.

The PSA is designed to highlight those targets that are critical to the delivery of the Government's key priorities and will feed into local PSAs. Taken together with the Service Delivery Agreements to be published later in the year and Best Value targets, they provide a comprehensive picture of the contribution local government will make to the delivery of local services.

For some PSA targets, including targets which narrow the gap between deprived areas and the rest, local authorities will be working with local lead partners to deliver shared targets. Their inclusion in this list reflects the crucial role that local authorities will play in taking preventative action to tackle the underlying causes of deprivation, poor health and employment prospects and high levels of crime.

Education and employment targets

1. Increase the percentage of 11 year olds at or above the expected standard of literacy and numeracy for their age: by 2004

increase the percentage of children who achieve level 4 in each of the Key Stage 2 English and maths tests beyond the targets for 2002 of 80% in English and 75% in maths. This target will be announced in due course;
reduce to zero the number of Local Education Authorities (LEAs) where fewer than a set percentage of pupils achieve these standards, thus narrowing the attainment gap. This target will also be announced in due course.

2. Increase the percentage of 14 year olds at or above the standard of literacy, numeracy, science and Information & Communications Technology (ICT) for their age. Subject to consultation:

by 2007, 85% to achieve level 5 or above in each of the Key Stage 3 tests in English, maths, and ICT, and 80% in science;
as milestones towards that target, 80% to achieve level 5 in maths, 75% in English and ICT, and 70% in science by 2004; and
for 2004, a minimum performance target will be set which will result in higher standards for the bottom 20% of pupils and narrow the attainment gap.

3. Increase the percentage of pupils obtaining 5 or more GCSEs at grades A* to C (or equivalent):

increase the proportion achieving the standard by four percentage points between 2002 and 2004; and
at least 38% to achieve this standard in every LEA by 2004.

4. Increase the percentage of pupils obtaining 5 or more GCSEs at grades A* to G (or equivalent), including English and maths: by 2004 92% of 16 year olds should reach this standard.

5. On pupil inclusion:

reduce school truancies by a further 10% from the level achieved by 2002; and
ensure that all pupils who are permanently excluded obtain an appropriate full-time education.

6. Over the 3 years to 2004 increase the employment rates of disadvantaged areas and groups, taking account of the economic cycle - people with disabilities, lone parents, ethnic minorities and the over 50s, the 30 local authority districts with the poorest initial labour market position - and reduce the difference between their employment rates and the overall rate.

Social services and health targets

7. Provide high quality pre-admission and rehabilitation care to older people to help them live as independently as possible, by reducing preventable hospitalisation and ensuring year on year reductions in delays in moving people over 75 on from hospital. At least 130,000 people are expected to benefit from this care. Progress will be monitored in the Performance Assessment Framework.

8. Improve the life chances of children in care by:

improving the level of education, training and employment outcomes for care levers aged 19, so that the levels for this group are at least 75% of those achieved by all young people in the same area by March 2004;
improving the educational attainment of children and young people in care by increasing from 6% in 1998 to 15% in 2004 the proportion of children leaving care aged 16 and over with at least five GCSEs at grade A* to C;
giving them the care and guidance needed to narrow the gap by 2004 between the proportions of children in care and their peers who are cautioned or convicted; and
maximising the contribution adoption can make to providing permanent families for children. A specific target will be set in the light of the Prime Minister's review of adoption.

9. Reduce the proportion of people under the age of 25 reporting the use of Class A drugs by 25% by 2005 (and by 50% by 2008).

10. Reduce the proportion of children aged 0-3 in the 500 Sure Start areas who are re-registered within the space of 12 months on the child protection register by 20% by 2004.

11. Narrow the health gap between socio-economic groups and between the most deprived areas and the rest of the country, in childhood and throughout life. Specific national targets will be developed in consultation with external stakeholders and experts and published in 2001 in time to become fully operational by the beginning of 2002-03.

Waste, housing, planning and transport targets

12. Enable 17% of household waste to be recycled or composted by 2004.

13. Ensure that all social housing meets set standards of decency by 2010, by reducing the number of households living in social housing that does not meet these standards by a third between 2001 and 2004; with most of the improvements taking place in the most deprived local authority areas as part of a comprehensive regeneration strategy.

14. Reduce congestion on the inter-urban trunk road network and in large urban areas in England below current levels by 2010 by promoting integrated transport solutions and investing in public transport and the road network.

15. Increase bus use in England (measured by the number of passenger journeys) from 2000 levels by 10% by 2010, while at the same time securing improvements in punctuality and reliability.

16. Double light rail use in England (measured by the number of passenger journeys) by 2010 from 2000 levels.

17. Reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured in Great Britain in road accidents by 40%, and the number of children killed or seriously injured by 50%, by 2010 compared with the average for 1994-98.

18. 60% of new housing should by 2008 be provided on previously developed land and through conversion of existing buildings. Brownfield land will be reclaimed at a rate of over 1,100 hectares per annum by 2004 (reclaiming 5% of current Brownfield land by 2004 and 17% by 2010).

Crime reduction and fire prevention targets

19. Reduce the key recorded crime categories of:

vehicle crime by 30% by 2004;
domestic burglary by 25%, with no local authority area having a rate more than three times the - national average, by 2005; and
robbery in our principal cities by 14% by 2005.

20. Reduce the rate of re-convictions:

of all offenders punished by imprisonment or by community supervision by 5% by 2004 compared to the predicted rate; and
of all young offenders by 5% by 2004 compared to the predicted rate.

21. Reduce the incidence of accidental fire-related deaths in the home by 20% averaged over the five year period to March 2004 compared with the average recorded in the five year period to March 1999.

Council-wide targets

22. Ensure continuous improvement in the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of local services through:

overall annual improvements in cost effectiveness of 2% or more; and
ensuring that local government achieves 100% capability in electronic service delivery by 2005.