Cutting the number of unemployed youngsters, reducing teenage pregnancies and providing affordable housing are the most popular town hall aspirations under local government's revamped targets regime. The CLG published the first set of targets that underpin the sector's new local area agreements on 30 June. Under the plan, the number of performance indicators for councils has been slashed from 1,200 to 198, while senior council staff will be expected to focus on just 35 locally-selected formal targets. Despite recent reports that the Home Office had distorted the new regime by promoting combating violent extremism as a core target, councils largely steered dear of including an anti-extremism indicator in their priority list. Reducing the number of 'NEETs' - 16 to 18-year-olds not in education, employment or training - was the most popular target, chosen by 115 out of 150 authorities.
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