CLG performance improves, but can do better say MPs

The Department of Communities & Local Government (DCLG) has improved its performance over the last year, according to the committee of MPs tasked with scrutinising its performance, but it has yet to become the kind of “big hitter” in Whitehall circles that it needs to be.

Performance has improved over the last year, along with its ability to exert influence over fellow Whitehall departments, says the all party Communities & Local Government Select Committee of MPs, but the department has suffered during that time from excessive rates of ministerial and staff turnover.

Presenting the committee’s departmental annual review, chair Dr Phyllis Starkey MP said: "Our report acknowledges improvements in CLG's performance and influence over the past year. However, the Department has yet to become the kind of 'big hitter' it needs to be within Whitehall and we have yet to see consistent and sustained evidence that the Department possesses the full range of skills required for the effective formulation and delivery of the policies for which it is responsible. It cannot help that officials serve an average tenure of just nine months and that, over the lifetime of the Department so far, senior Ministers have remained in post for barely a year. "

This is the committee’s third report examining the work of the department since its establishment in 2006. The report:

•Expresses frustration that no complete set of figures is yet available to show how well the DCLG is doing and warns that much greater efforts must be made in future to provide sufficient information about progress against Public Service Agreement and Departmental Strategic Objective targets at a much earlier stage.

•Commends the DCLG for the progress it can report against measurable targets on housing but warns that future achievement will be much weaker as the credit crunch feeds through into reported figures for new housing completions. It likewise calls on the department to do far more to improve the supply of planning skills to local government.

•Warns the DCLG that a pattern of "leaving staff in post for an average of just 9 months before moving them on to something new is not a sensible way to run an organisation" and recommends that the Prime Minister should "take greater account of the prerequisites for effective government" by curbing the rate of ministerial turnover.

•Praises the department and the Fire and Rescue Service for progress made in reducing the incidence of fires and the number of deaths and casualties arising from them. Nevertheless, it points out that the department still lacks the essential project management skills required to deliver its own objectives in this area.

•Argues that on the matter of efficiency savings, a failure to realise the department's overall target to shave £887 million out of its budget by March 2011 will leave a serious hole in its plans. The department must provide evidence of the contingency plans it has in place to identify new areas of saving that could contribute to this target or cover the shortfall should the overall target (and additional savings required in 2011 from staff re-location) not be realised.

•Welcomes the government's efforts to address calls for rental housing reform and restates its long held view that the Government should consider the long-term future of the balance of housing tenures.
The full report is available at: www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmcomloc/391/391.pdf