Out of Whitehall

Anyone who thought that the Labour win at the general election would mean business as usual at the ODPM has now been well and truly disabused of that notion.

A new ODPM is emerging, with a more rigorous approach and, it is being suggested, a whole different set of priorities, and the man in the driving seat is communities minister David Miliband.

The most tangible evidence of this new approach is behind the revolving glass doors of the ODPM’s Eland House headquarters, where a key appointment was made at the end of last month. Peter Housden has been named as permanent secretary, replacing Mavis McDonald who retires from the post in October. Housden moves across to take up the post of ODPM’s top civil servant from the Department for Education and Skills, where he was director general of schools under none other than David Miliband.

The communities minister’s post-election “stock take”, a review of ODPM activity, is turning out to be a broad-ranging examination of ODPM policy and its consequences, and the issues up for consideration show just how big an impact it might have. The stock take is considering cutting the number of Thames Gateway bodies and cutting back one of the central tenets of the sustainable communities plan, by scrapping one of the four housing growth areas.

While the former may provoke a cheer from any housebuilder trying to understand exactly who they should be dealing with in the Gateway, the latter will strike horror into the hearts of an industry that is trying to deliver the government’s housing aspirations in the face of planning delays, article 14s from the Highways Agency and Conservative opposition.

Adding fuel to the debate is Lord Rogers’ urban taskforce, which has been reconvened to produce a second report. Its forthcoming report contains criticism of the growth areas, and recommends that they should be reduced in size and linked to existing towns and cities to allow more of a focus on urban regeneration.

Housing Corporation chief executive Jon Rouse has also put the growth areas under pressure, by pointing out that its funding could be related to delivery in the future. There is a strong expectation that more government targets are on the way from Whitehall, and that they will be related to delivery.

The final results of the stock take are unlikely to become completely clear for several months. In the meantime, an ODPM spokesperson offers these words of reassurance, saying: “This is an internal stock take that will not result in a big report or review being published. There will be no change in direction. Our priorities remain the same in delivering housing growth across four growth areas.”