Local government minister, John Healey, has rejected town hall demands for an overhaul of the local area agreement regime, claiming it is robust enough to ease councils through the credit crunch. His comments seem to contradict communities secretary, Heather Blears, who, earlier this month, told SOLACE conference she would be willing to look at the targets again. Mr Healey told an MJ/NSA conference that the fledgling LAAs regime, which allows councils to choose targets for local services, was relevant, despite warnings of hikes in unemployment and home repossessions. 'Some argue the credit crunch will render LAAs redundant. I disagree. In my view, it will reinforce the LAA principle that priorities and action should be decided at local level,' Mr Healey said.
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