A key objective of the Government's Programme for Local Government Renewal is closer partnership between local authorities and local development bodies (Area partnerships, LEADER Groups and County/City Enterprise Boards) operating at local level. While these agencies were each doing good work, they had to a certain extent been operating in parallel. This reduced their effectiveness and led to duplication and overlap in some areas.

Against this background, the Government in June 1998 established an Interdepartmental Task Force on the Integration of Local Government and Local Development Systems, chaired by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government. The Report of the Task Force on the Integration of Local Government and Local Development Systems (August 1998) was approved by Government and the Task Force has been mandated to continue in order to oversee implementation of the Report's recommendations.

One of the principal recommendations of the Task Force Report was the establishment of County/City Development Boards (CDBs) in each of the 29 county councils, and in each of the 5 major cities to bring about an integrated approach to the delivery of both State and local development services at local level. Each CDB is required to prepare and oversee the implementation of a ten year county/city Strategy for Economic, Social and Cultural Development, which will provide the template guiding all public services and local development activities locally; in effect bringing more coherence to the planning and delivery of services at local level. All thirty four Strategies for Economic, Social and Cultural Development have now been published.