Hazel Blears has promised council bosses there will be no new mandatory targets from central government. The communities secretary announced Whitehall performance indicators would be slashed from 1,200 to 198, giving councils ‘major freedoms' to focus on local issues. But, in return, she challenged chief executives to innovate and improve services for local people. Speaking to the SOLACE annual conference in Cardiff last week, Ms Blears warned there would be freedom for councils under the new Local Area Agreements, but that ‘does not mean anything goes'. She said there had to be clarity over performance, and ‘tough action when they falter'. But, she added: ‘There must be no scope for Whitehall sneaking in extra targets through the back door. When it comes to central government managing local authorities' performance, Local Area Agreements really are the only game in town.' However, one chief executive, East Sussex CC's Cheryl Miller, claimed she was already under pressure from the Youth Justice Board to put its priorities as her council's 35 key targets. The secretary of state responded: ‘Thank you for telling me about the Youth Justice Board. I can't stop it from lobbying you because its members are passionate about what they do.' Ms Blears also challenged councils to make the most of devolution. ‘This is your opportunity to demonstrate a mature approach to governing – not waiting for permission from Whitehall, but going ahead with what people tell you they want.' She was speaking as the Government published a new set of 198 national indicators, down from the 2,000 previously faced by local authorities. The announcement has been welcomed by Nottingham City Council chief executive, Michael Frater, who headed up the Government's task force on cutting performance targets. Mr Frater said he was ‘very happy' with the final results. ‘We didn't think they would get it under 200 indicators,' he said.
