REPORT OF THE

CABINET

PART II

HAMPSHIRE'S LOCAL PUBLIC SERVICE AGREEMENT

1. At its last meeting, the County Council was informed of progress on the preparation of Hampshire's Local Public Service Agreement (PSA). Since then, protracted negotiations have been carried out with the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR) and the other Government Departments culminating in the approval by Cabinet of the final form of the PSA document which was signed by the Leader and the Chief Executive on behalf of the County Council at a ceremony in London on 29 January with Government Ministers.

2. The framework for the County Council's PSA is on providing life opportunities for vulnerable groups and raising the quality of life, education and access to services across the County. The thirteen target headings contained in the PSA are set out in Appendix 1 and in summary seek to

· improve educational and attendance levels County-wide, with extra effort in areas where results are below the County average, and with a particular project in Gosport


· improve life opportunities for children in care including education and adoptions


· help older people to live as independently as possible


· develop a new approach to dealing with waste


· improve access and avoiding isolating communities through more targeted and reliable bus services


· improve the road network and reduce casualties

3. The benefit of entering into this agreement for the County Council is that it is able to target the initiatives with a pump priming grant of £2m on the most vulnerable groups in Hampshire and, on succeeding, receive substantial financial rewards from the Government.

4. Copies of the full PSA have been placed in the Members' Rooms.

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