Issuing from the Department of Communities and Local Government, the White Paper, Stronger, Safer and Prosperous Communities’ led to the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007.

From this, local authorities received statutory guidance from central government on how they relate to other public sector and voluntary sector bodies in the planning and delivery of services against government targets. It requires local authorities to produce a Community Plan and a Local Area Agreement (LAA).

In order to achieve this, a body called the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) has been formed in each local authority area.