LAPs No More

ELN: Residents and councillors alike have reacted with dismay at the apparent disbandment of the Local Area Partnerships in Tower Hamlets.
There were eight Local Area Partnerships across Tower Hamlets bringing together local councillors, residents, Primary Care Trusts, Police and other stake holders at regular forums to direct local funding priorities. 
More than £2million of Council funds have been diverted to the LAPs since their creation and this money has been used by the LAPs to “buy” additional services voted on at public meetings by residents. This has included funds for additional police, CCTV, drug outreach workers and improvements to community facilities. 
Cllr. Leslie Pavitt (Labour) who sits on the Steering Group for LAP2 which covers the Spitalfields and South Bethnal Green areas told the East London News, “the next meeting was in the diary but then we got informed there would be no more, which is a shame because the one I was involved in was excellent.” 
She added that there had not been a LAP meeting for “about a year”. 
A spokesperson for Tower Hamlets Council wrote to us saying, “Despite a number of financial and political changes, they remain in place. However, factors such as a dramatic reduction in our funding from central government; and the abolition of local area agreements – which measured local partnership performance, mean that we now need to reflect on how best to move forward with LAP arrangements. Crucially, the Working Neighbourhoods Fund has also ended, and this funded much of the arrangements for the management of the LAP steering groups.”
However, with no scheduled meetings and it being such a long time since the last ones were held, it would appear that the continued success of the Local Area Partnerships must now be in doubt.