The Citizen's Charter Unit in the Cabinet Office has written to councils which have shown commitment to old age policy initiatives, inviting proposals for around 25 pilots to be launched in April.
Councils which successfully lodged best value pilot bids for old age services have been excluded from the list, but proposals from any interested councils will be looked at, the unit says.
The thrust of the pilot guidelines is integrated service provision in partnership with other organisations. This ties in closely with the government's white paper on health published last month, signalling a formal role for councils in administering health authorities.
It wants an audit of resources each agency can contribute, showing where current control over resources lies 'and what decisions and actions by whom would be necessary to commit those resources to the inter-agency strategy'.
Dubbed 'Better government for older people', the pilots aim to give the aged better access to services and information, more input into services and better links between agencies.
Cabinet Office project manager Liz Lawrence said the invited councils were chosen in collaboration with the local government associations. Councils were picked which 'can get up and going quickly . . . there will have to be a lot of talking locally now', she said.
Association of Directors of Social Services president Roy Taylor said there was already much collaboration but the initiative gave it a new focus and brought in other agencies.
It was positive that older people were placed at the fore but the tight timescale gave councils little time to design their proposals, he said.
Proposals must be submitted by 13 February, with pilots chosen by 5 March.
The programme is being overseen by a steering committee comprised of the Citizen's Charter Unit, Warwick University Local Authorities Research Consortium, Age Concern, Anchor Trust and the Carnegie Third Age Programme.
Those invited to bid:
England
Berkshire CC
Bolton BC
City of Bradford MDC
Brighton and Hove Council
Bristol Council
Bury BC
Calderdale BC
Coventry City Council
Cumbria CC
Derby City Council
Devon CC
Dorset CC
Gloucestershire CC
Hampshire CC
Hartlepool Council
Isle of Wight Council
Kent CC
Kirklees MBC
Leeds City Council
Leicester City Council
Lincolnshire CC
Barnet LBC
Bexley LBC
Enfield LBC
Greenwich LBC
Hackney LBC
Hammersmith and Fulham LBC
Islington LBC
Lewisham LBC
Newham LBC
Redbridge LBC
Southwark LBC
Tower Hamlets
Macclesfield DC
Manchester City Council
Middlesbrough Council
Newcastle Upon Tyne City Council
North Tyneside BC
Northumberland CC
North Yorkshire CC
Nottingham City Council
Nottinghamshire CC
Oxfordshire CC
Portsmouth City Council
Reigate and Banstead BC
Salford City Council
Sandwell MBC
Sheffield City Council*
Solihull MBC
St Albans DC
The Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames
Warrington BC
Warwick DC
Warwickshire CC
Watford BC
Waverley BC
Wiltshire CC
Wolverhampton MBC *
City of York
Wales
Caerphilly CBC
City & County of Swansea
Conwy County BC
Denbighshire CC
Flintshire CC
Gwynedd Council
Isle of Anglesey CC
Pembrokeshire CC
Powys CC
Rhondda Cynon Taff CBC
Torfaen CBC
Northern Ireland
Department of the Environment**
Department of Health and Social Services **
North Down BC
Scotland
Dumfries and Galloway Council
East Dunbartonshire Council
City of Edinburgh Council
Highland Council
Moray Council
Scottish Borders Council
South Lanarkshire Council
Stirling Council
Note * Shortlisted for selected exemption from CCT as part of best value.** Potential pilots to be approached through Northern Ireland departments.
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