THE Government was today blasted over a scheme to reward Lancashire County Council with £27million for improving its services.

The authority is one of several across the country to have signed up to a Local Public Service Agreement (LPSA), a range of performance targets agreed with the Government in a deal that could bring in morcash.

Council leader Hazel Harding signed an agreement with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and must now work to deliver improvements over the next three years.

The agreement means red tape will be eased to allow the council to meet its new enhanced targets.

But opposition councillor Chris Holtom said bureaucracy should be relaxed so all councils can improve their services. He added: "I support reducing red tape but if reducing it means service can be improved why not do it across the board without giving tens of millions of pounds away?

"Why not just give the money to councils? Having targets is laudable but councils should be striving to improve their services free of charge."

But Coun Harding said: "These targets, many of which have been agreed with our district council partners, are very much in line with our aim to improve all our services for the people of Lancashire. If we can achieve all these service targets, we will all benefit."

Among the raft of proposals Lancashire County Council must now:

reduce the number of pregnant girls under the age of 18,

prevent and reduce youth offending,

improve bus usage and road safety,

increase participation in drug treatment programmes

and encourage more pensioners to take advantage of benefits.

A spokesman for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister denied councils were being rewarded for doing their job and said targets set were higher than normal. The agreements are a means by which local authorities can build upon best value and commit themselves to delivering even better outcomes for local people than they would otherwise expect to achieve," he said.

"Each agreement focuses on about 12 key outcomes that reflect a mix of national and local priorities. In return, central government departments are offering to agree freedoms and flexibilities in statutory and administrative processes and financial rewards for success, which will help authorities deliver these enhanced outcomes."

The agreement signed by Local Government minister Nick Raynsford and Council leader Hazel Harding, follows a similar pledge from Blackburn with Darwen Council signed last year.

Blackburn was one of the first authorities in the country to enter into an LPSA, which included reducing fatal road accidents and encouraging more adults back into education.