1 Introduction
1. The DCLG 2006 Annual Report sets out the strategic
priorities of the Department for Communities and Local Government
(DCLG) and its performance against targets and expenditure in
the financial year 2005-06. The report is the first of its type
produced by the DCLG. In spite of its title, the period covered
relates entirely to the Department's predecessor, the Office of
the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), which it replaced as a result
of machinery of government changes in May 2006. The ODPM had in
turn produced three such annual reports since its establishment
in 2002. The DCLG is responsible for about £32 billion of
government spending, including the £23 billion it allocates
to local government. This represents about 10% of total government
spending. It employs around 2,700 full-time-equivalent staff
(FTE) and has annual running costs of around £330 million.
The Department has 10 public service agreement (PSA) targets,
relating to, among other things, social exclusion, improving regional
economic performance, housing supply and demand and standards,
and improving gender, race and other equalities. It is currently
on course or ahead of expectations on eight of them. It was charged
by the Gershon review with achieving £620 million in annual
efficiency savings by March 2008, and has done so ahead of target.
It was also charged with reducing FTE staff levels by 400 and
is on course to do so. [1]
2. As the Liaison Committee has identified, scrutiny
of departmental expenditure and performance against targets is
one of the core tasks of a departmental select committee. Examination
of the 2006 departmental Annual Report was therefore a priority
for us.
3. The Liaison Committee has also recommended the
scrutiny of major public appointments. The appointment as Secretary
of State for Communities and Local Government in May 2006 of Rt
Hon. Ruth Kelly MP does not strictly fall within that ambit, as
it was, of course, made by the Prime Minister. We took the opportunity
provided by our Annual Report evidence sessions, however, to question
her on her priorities for the future, some of which are discussed
briefly in the final section of this Report. In addition, the
evidence sessions for this inquiry provided a further opportunity
to question Mr Peter Housden, the Department's Permanent Secretary,
shortly after his first anniversary in the post, and to interview
other officials either newly appointed or given changed responsibilities
in the light of the changes that created the DCLG.
4. We took oral evidence as part of this inquiry
on two occasions. On 27 November 2006 we heard from four departmental
officials: Mr Peter Housden, Permanent Secretary; Mr Peter Unwin,
Director-General, Corporate Delivery; Mr Joe Montgomery, Director-General,
Places and Communities; and Ms Christina Bienkowska CBE, Director,
Strategy and Performance. At the second evidence session, on 4
December, we examined Rt Hon. Ruth Kelly MP, Secretary of State
for Communities and Local Government; Mr Richard McCarthy, Director-General,
Programmes, Policy and Innovation; and, once again, Mr Unwin.
5. We are grateful
to Ministers and officials for their willingness to make themselves
available throughout the 2005-06 Session.
1 Cabinet Office, Capability Review of Communities
and Local Government, December 2006, pp 9-11. See http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/reform/capability_reviews/reports.asphttp://www.civilservice.gov.uk/reform/capability_reviews/reports.asp Back
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