St. Helens Together - Multi Area Agreement

The Liverpool City Region (LCR) Multi Area Agreement (MAA) covers the districts of St.Helens, Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton and Wirral. A MAA is a framework in which adjoining local authorities work in partnership. Through MAAs local authorities can go beyond their administrative boundaries with their Partners to better reflect the real economic geography of their area and work in a more strategic and coordinated way to meet challenges. An MAA is formed through a voluntary agreement between local authorities who enter into a contract with central government, but rather than conforming to top-down prescribed instructions, MAAs are put together bottom-up.

There are four platforms, or areas of work, that LCR are taking forward, they are:

	The Employment and Skills Platform (signed by the Prime Minister in January 2009). To aid sub regional working, the Employment and Skills Platform sets out a programme which addresses worklessness and skills and made ‘asks’ or concessions from Government to support this including tailoring of the Flexible New Deal programme, development of a Fit for Work pilot;and trialling of the new adult advancement careers service. Performance measures are included.
	The Economy Platform (signed in September 2009) The Economy Platform recognises recent performance but accepts that a ‘business as usual’ approach will not close the gap between Liverpool City Region (LCR) and the North West and UK. A step-change is needed in economic performance and is focused here on four transformational actions to stimulate growth acceleration: Culture and Tourism, SuperPort, Low Carbon Economy and the Knowledge Economy, each with performance measures.
	The Housing Platform (signed in September 2009) The Housing platform builds on successful joint and regional working including the Regional Spatial Strategy, the LCR Housing Strategy and two Growth Point bids. It will deliver good quality existing housing that is energy efficient, appropriate and affordable, new homes in the right places, an effective private rented sector and a focus on help for residents of vulnerable areas to access key services.
	The Transport Platform (signed in September 2009) The vision is a fully integrated, sustainable and safe transport network, which supports economic and social regeneration, ensures good access for all, and is operated and maintained to the highest standards to protect the environment and quality of life. There are 3 key proposals. The first will improve access to employment and education opportunities. The second will improve the capacity and connectivity of the LCR network. The third proposal is to become a Low Carbon Transport Demonstration City, reducing emissions and addressing climate change.

Story of Place
The LCR ‘Story of Place’ which gives background information to the city region, has been revised and updated. Performance is managed by the LCR.

Multi Area Agreement - Story of Place 2009

More information about the MAA can be found on The Mersey Partnerhsip Website.