Council and Democracy Swindon's Local Area Agreement

In June 2008, Swindon Borough Council and its strategic partners signed a second Local Area Agreement (LAA).

In selecting priorities, we have considered how to tackle long-standing social, economic and environmental problems together. The building blocks of this agreement are the six themes of the Swindon Community Strategy

• Swindon: a destination of choice
• All Swindon people are benefiting from our growing economy
• We have safeguarded our environment for future generations
• A healthy, caring and supportive place
• A place where high aspirations are supported by superb education provision for all ages
• A place where local people can have real influence and where they feel safe

Thirty indicators were selected from a government prescribed list of 198 indicators.

(The indicators are listed in a downloadable PDF file: 30 Indicators (14Kb))

Our second LAA contains the following priorities:

• A destination of choice where people choose to live, visit and invest
• Where all Swindon people are benefiting for our growing economy
• Safeguarding and enhancing our natural environment for future generations
• Where people in Swindon live a longer, healthier, happier and more active life
• High aspirations supported by superb education provisions for all ages
• A place where the resident population can have real influence to develop a sense of community and belonging, and where reducing crimes makes them feel safe

Progress since 2005

Swindon was selected as a pilot authority for the first local area agreement in 2005. Sir Mike Pitt, Swindon Borough Council's Chief Executive at the time, invited strategic partners from across Swindon to deliver real benefits to local communities by setting new targets and objectives that could only be delivered if partner organisations worked together.

Some examples of this new partnership working include:

• In partnership with the Learning Skills Council, local employers and Swindon colleges, we have increased the number of working-age people who live in Neighbourhood Renewal Areas achieving an NVQ2 qualification or equivalent
• Working with the Youth Justice Board, Social Services and the Police, we have set up a Youth Offending Team who have reduced the number of young people entering the youth justice system (we are on-target to over achieve government set targets for the Swindon area)
• Working with Smoke Free Swindon, the Primary Care Trust, Trading Standards and local GPs, we have reduced the smoking prevalence of over 16s, and separately we work with the Adult Learning Team and Community Engagement to reduce the number of BME smokers. All of these partners working together have exceeded government targets for our area.
• Housing department has worked with a number of agencies to install new, and replace inefficient electrical heating systems in our local housing stock; and partnered to this we implemented the much-praised Swindon Affordable Warmth Action plan to increase the number of vulnerable households securing grants to insulate their homes

Further Information/Contact

For full information on the LAA, please see the Swindon LAA website (www.swindonlaa.org.uk).

Please e-mail the LAA Team at swindonlaa@swindon.gov.uk