Councils' priorities reveal new work focus

30/06/2008

The government has published each councils' new priorities and revealed 75 per cent want to get more jobs and educational opportunities for young people.

By reducing the number from more than 100 to 35 and consulting with local officials, it hopes its new Local Area Agreements (LAAs) will better target the needs of voters.

"This government is making strong progress in tackling the issues that people really care about, from cutting crime and increasing opportunities for young people to creating a fairer, more responsive NHS," commented Gordon Brown.

Each region has now published its LAAs' newly targeted priorities – three-quarters of local areas have prioritised getting unemployed young people into work, while two-thirds focused on preventing teenage pregnancies.

Hazel Blears, secretary of state for communities and local government, said the new local priorities "mean that councils and their partners can concentrate their efforts on the specific needs of the local people they serve".

The results are shown on the local priorities website and revealed London boroughs of Bexley, Enfield and Hillingdon all targeted the achievement of a Level 2 qualification by the age of 19 as a top priority.

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