A multi-area agreement was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 political

Politics of the United Kingdom

The politics of the United Kingdom takes place within the framework of a constitutional monarchy, in which the Monarch is the head of state and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government...

 framework that aimed to encourage cross boundary partnership working at the regional and sub-regional levels

Subdivisions of England

The subdivisions of England consist of a hierarchy of administrative divisions, and non-administrative ceremonial areas. All of England is divided into one of nine regions and 48 ceremonial counties, although these have only a limited role in public policy....

. They were defined by the Department for Communities and Local Government

Department for Communities and Local Government

The Department for Communities and Local Government is the UK Government department for communities and local government in England. It was established in May 2006 and is the successor to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, established in 2001...

 (DCLG) as voluntary agreements between two or more top tier (county councils or metropolitan district councils) or unitary local authorities

Unitary authorities of England

Unitary authorities of England are areas where a single local authority is responsible for a variety of services for a district that elsewhere are administered separately by two councils...

, their partners and the government to work collectively to improve local economic prosperity.

There are currently fifteen signed off multi-area agreements in England: However, these are due to be folded into the new Local Enterprise Partnerships

Local enterprise partnership

Local enterprise partnerships will replace the eight regional development agencies outside Greater London in England, under the current Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government...

 preferred by the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/SN03168.

MAA name	Local authorities	Established
Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole	Bournemouth, Poole, Dorset: Christchurch, East Dorset, North Dorset, Purbeck, West Dorset, Weymouth, Portland
Greater Manchester Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...	Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan
Leeds City Region Leeds City Region The Leeds City Region is the area whose economic development is supported by the Leeds City Region Partnership, a sub-regional economic development partnership...	Barnsley, Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, Wakefield, York, North Yorkshire: Selby, Craven, Harrogate
Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (PUSH)	Portsmouth, Southampton, Hampshire: East Hampshire, Eastleigh, Fareham, Gosport, Havant, New Forest, Test Valley, Winchester
South Yorkshire South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...	Sheffield, Doncaster, Rotherham, Barnsley
Tees Valley Tees Valley The Tees Valley is an area in the North East of England. It can be described as "greater Teesside" and consists of the four unitary authorities created by the breakup of the County of Cleveland in 1996: Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland, and Stockton-On-Tees along with the borough of...	Darlington, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, Hartlepool, Stockton-on-Tees
Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan county in north east England around the mouths of the Rivers Tyne and Wear. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972...	Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Sunderland, Durham, Northumberland
Leicester and Leicestershire	Leicester, Leicestershire: Blaby, Charnwood, Harborough, Hinckley and Bosworth, Melton, North West Leicestershire, Oadby and Wigston
Liverpool City Region	Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens, Wirral
Pennine Lancashire	Blackburn with Darwen, Lancashire: Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Ribble Valley, Rossendale
Birmingham, Coventry and Black Country City Region	Birmingham, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall, Wolverhampton
North Kent	Medway, Kent: Gravesham, Swale, Dartford
West of England Partnership	Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire
Fylde Coast	Blackpool, Lancashire: Fylde, Wyre
Olympic Boroughs	Greenwich, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest

Additionally there were five areas who were in negotiations with DCLG regarding the development of an MAA:

• Gatwick Diamond
• Hull and Humber
• Milton Keynes South Midlands
• Nottingham
• Regional Cities East

External links

• Map of MMA areas in England