Letter from the Permanent Secretary to
the Chair, Communities and Local Government Committee
DIRECTOR-GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES AT COMMUNITIES
AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
As I mentioned to you when we met, I have been
reviewing how best to organise Board-level responsibilities here
to deliver the ambitious programme of work set by the Prime Minister
and our Ministerial team. I have today announced a range of changes
to Director-General portfolios which I believe will ensure clear
accountability for our delivery responsibilities. I thought that
you and Committee members would be interested to know the details.
I am creating the following new Director-General
portfolios:
Richard McCarthy will become Director-General,
Housing and Planning, focused on delivering our Housing Green
Paper commitments of three million new homes by 2020; leading
on the housing reform agenda; establishing the new Homes and Communities
Agency; all aspects of planning reform and performance; and our
programmes related to physical infrastructure. This portfolio
will require Richard to continue to input to our major programmes
on Thames Gateway and Olympics, but I am focussing his leadership
responsibilities on the housing and planning agenda.
Joe Montgomery will become Director-General,
Regions and Communities, responsible for the Government Offices
and establishing the Department's leading role in supporting the
work of regional ministers. He will take on Board-level sponsorship
of the Thames Gateway and lead responsibility for European policies
and programmes. He will lead on cross-cutting policy issues on
which the Department has a clear contribution to make across Government,
such as tackling gang culture. And to reinforce the high priority
which Hazel attaches to embedding community empowerment in all
aspects of the Department's work and across Government, Joe will
continue to lead on the Third Sector and will chair the community
empowerment programme board.
Chris Wormald will become Director-General,
Local Government and Regeneration. In addition to his Directorate's
responsibilities for local government and community empowerment,
Chris will establish a single, integrated lead on regeneration
policy, including implementation of the Sub-National Review, and
taking responsibility for neighbourhood renewal and liveability
work. From December Chris will take on responsibility for Local
Strategic Partnerships and Performance, bringing together all
aspects of our local government work in a single Group. Chris
will retain his current responsibilities for Communications and
Ministerial Group.
Susan Scholefield will become Director-General,
Cohesion and Resilience, adding lead responsibility for Fire and
Resilience to her current portfolio. She will lead on all aspects
of our resilience work -chairing the Contingency Planning subcommittee
and ensuring we are equipped to meet future recovery challenges
such as flooding. Susan will become lead Director-General for
our policy interests in migration issues, bringing enhanced senior
leadership to this work at a time when our commitments in this
area are increasing.
Hunada Nouss will become Director-General, Finance
and Corporate Services. In addition to her current commitments
she will take on responsibility for Analytical Services and sponsorship
of Michael Kelly's work as Chief Scientist. In view of the financial
commitments involved, Hunada will take on lead responsibility
for the Department's contribution to the Olympics.
Mike Falvey will remain Director-General for
Human Resources and Transformational Change, in line with his
current portfolio.
Christina Bienkowska will remain our Board-level
Director of Strategy and Performance.
Peter Housden
30 September 2007
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