Former shadow CLG secretary a well-known critic of Labour building targets and quangos
Outspoken Pickles takes reins
The Conservative Party has appointed one of the most vocal critics of Labour house building targets as Communities and Local Government secretary.
Eric Pickles is also well-known for pledging to scrap a number of ‘useless, pointless’ quangos as shadow CLG secretary between June 2007 and January last year.
The 58-year-old earned a reputation as an ardent Thatcherite in the 1980s as leader of Bradford Council.
He became an MP in 1992, and is known for speaking out about high levels of public expenditure, calling for a reduction in the salaries of council chief executives.
Keith Exford, vice-chair of the G15 group of housing associations, said Mr Pickles needs to think creatively about how to increase housing supply.
He said: ‘We need a flexible, proper review of the purpose of our affordable housing offer, what products we need to meet that purpose and who is best able to provide it.’
Meanwhile, former Conservative leader Iain Duncan-Smith has become the new Work and Pensions secretary.
Mr Duncan-Smith is well-known in the housing sector for his controversial views on security of tenure. His centre-right think tank, the Centre for Social Justice, has proposed gradually eradicating tenancy for life in social housing as a way of encouraging people out of benefit dependency and poverty.
In an exclusive interview with Inside Housing in March, Mr Duncan-Smith said: ‘It doesn’t do them any good, because the lifelong right to tenure they have is in the house that they’re in, so it doesn’t reflect changing circumstances.’
The CSJ has also drawn up plans to reform the benefit system which would see all benefits streamlined into two, and a subsidy for the low-paid which would ensure they were better off in work than on benefits.
There are rumours that right-wing members of the Conservative party demanded that Mr Duncan-Smith be appointed to the cabinet to compensate for compromises necessary to forge a successful coalition with the Liberal Democrats.
Richard Capie, director of policy and practice at the Chartered Institute of Housing, said the new minister would continue the reforms to housing benefit instigated by his predecessor Yvette Cooper.
He said: ‘Obviously he is the author of a lot of thinking around social housing, and his active interest in the sector may mean that the issues around housing benefit are given greater prominence.’
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Readers' comments (1)
Rick Campbell | 22/05/2010 2:53 pm
Eric Pickles allegedly prides himself on speaking plainly. Wouldn't that be a novelty for someone with a responsibility for housing. many actively participating tenants are being sidelined by landlords bringing in lapdogs (as opposed to watchdogs) as "resident-led" is replaced by "co" regulation.
Perhaps Mr Pickles could lead from the top - get rid of quangos and consult with real people (who are not afraid of their landlords) who may well put him on the right road.
Too radical perhaps for Eric, TSA, Coalition, landlords, etc.?
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