Sector rounds on Conservative proposals to slash red tape and bureaucracy

The party announced the proposals on Monday after it published the James review, its response to the government’s Gershon review of public sector efficiency.

The James review, compiled by corporate troubleshooter David James, suggests replacing the ODPM with a “slimmed down” department for local government.

It also proposes the abolition of inspections, comprehensive performance assessments and best value reviews. Instead, councils would have to conduct resident satisfaction surveys.

The Conservatives would also scrap John Prescott’s two-year-old blueprint for housing, the Communities Plan, and encourage property ownership through equity schemes. They say the reforms would lead to a £2.3bn saving to be invested in frontline services.

A spokesman for the party said the review showed there was “too much red tape and bureaucracy burdening councils”.

But the review has met with harsh criticism from the housing sector. Jim Coulter, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said: “The ODPM has a vital role and we support what it has achieved so far, particularly through the Communities Plan, in achieving sustainable, mixed communities.”

He added: “The focus for savings should be on activities, not just structures. For example, streamlining regulation and inspection would produce savings in association costs, which can be used to deliver frontline services.”

Sarah Webb, director of policy at the Chartered Institute of Housing, echoed Coulter’s concerns. She said it would be a “negative step” to replace the ODPM with something more limited and that there was “little doubt” that inspections have resulted in improved standards for vulnerable people.

She also dismissed the idea of scrapping the Communities Plan and said it was helping to solve housing problems.

Associations and councils, which have been on the receiving end of critical reports, also rounded on Tory plans to scrap inspections.

Jayne Hilditch, corporate services director at Notting Hill Housing Group, said: “We see inspection as an important tool for driving up good performance in the RSL sector … RSL customers cannot easily choose to buy their accommodation somewhere else if their landlord provides a poor service.”

The second phase of the Conservatives’ housing policy is due to be unveiled in the next few weeks. It launched The Right to Own last August (HT 6 August 2004, page 8).