Multi Area Agreement (MAA) The ‘Asks’ of Government

The Multi Area Agreement (MAA) lays down 11 ‘asks’ of Government to change existing Central Government - Local Government relationships. There are six employment and skills ‘asks’ and five transport ‘asks’.

The employment and skills ‘asks’ are:

Ask 1: To support a cluster approach to the 14-19 age group commissioning across the City Region, and to influence any regional decisions. Once the Government’s guidance has been published, to discuss the resourcing of commissioning arrangements with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and Tees Valley City Region to ensure that commissioning arrangements are consistent across the region.
Ask 2: To explore with the City Region how the Employment and Skills Board may become a statutory body, with its powers and responsibilities around employment and skills in the MAA area defined in statute.
Ask 3: To support a co-commissioning approach for employment and skills provision in the City Region and to use this as the basis for future co-commissioning models with the Department of Work and Pensions and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, drawing national and City Region priorities together within the MAA framework.
Ask 4: To commit to exploring the possibility of introducing new measures in the region that enable Train to Gain to support the achievement of full level 4 qualifications, through a combination of more flexible use of Train to Gain resources and employer contribution.
Ask 5: The Higher Education Funding Council for England to provide additional flexibility to Further Education colleges in the City Region to deliver units of foundation degrees. We would also like to see a greater degree of unitisation within the LSC funded provision at level 4.
Ask 6: To commit to examine, with the City Region, how the additional flexibility to increase the length of stay of visas for international graduates is helping to deliver City Region aspirations and priorities for higher skills employment, and to explore whether further flexibility is needed.

The transport ‘asks’ are:

Ask 1: The Government and the Highways Agency to work with the City Region in such a way that will clearly define a programme of improvements to the A1 and the A19 within the next three years and to commit to completing the said programme within the shortest agreed timescale after that. Coupled with this ask, we would like to see the Highways Agency (in the first instance, possibly followed by other national agencies) to have a duty or a responsibility to collaborate with the City Region.
Ask 2: Following the completion of our Governance Review, the appropriate policy and legislative environment exists to enable City Region transport, including MAA transport proposals, to deliver a contribution to the City Region’s broader economic objectives.
Ask 3: To provide flexibility in those statutory provisions and funding mechanisms that support the planning and management of the highway network and public transport in order to enable the City Region partners to develop a consistently high standard of provision throughout the City Region. For example, flexibility in provisions set out by the 1984 Road Traffic Regulation Act could realise substantial economies and efficiencies through the preparation, consultation and making of joint traffic orders across the whole City Region network. Flexibility in the application of the regulations affecting Concessionary Travel will enhance opportunities to provide affordable public transport.
Ask 4: To provide greater flexibility in the use of transportation funding, both capital and revenue, to give the City Region greater opportunities to support operational, marketing and behavioural initiatives promoting sustainable transport through the Local Transport Plan process, including opportunities to develop additional concessionary travel provision to improve access to employment and learning in the City Region.
Ask 5: To recognise the City Region as a consultee on rail policy and to facilitate strategic dialogue on the improvement of rail services between the City Region and rail operators.

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