Written question asked by Helen Jones (Labour) on Monday, 18 February 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 21 February 2008. It was answered by John Healey (Labour) on Thursday, 21 February 2008 on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Local Government: Carers

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance has been issued to local authorities on taking into account the needs of carers when drawing up local area agreements.

Answer: CLG has issued two sets of guidance on local area agreements (LAAs) as follows:"draft statutory guidance 'Creating Strong., Safe and Prosperous Communities', which was published for public consultation on 20 November covering the new legal framework for local area agreements; and""operational guidance 'Development of the new LA A framework' covering negotiations of LAAs for 2008-11."This guidance describes the process for setting targets in local area agreements, drawn from the National Indicator Set (which contains an indicator, NI 135, which specifically addresses the needs of carers). It does not cover how to set individual targets to take into account the needs of carers, as this will be a matter for individual negotiation in each LAA.

Secondary information