Communities and Local Government's Departmental Annual Report 2008

HC 238, Second Report of Session 2008-09 - Report, Together with Formal Minutes, Oral and Written Evidence

Author:: House of Commons - Communities and Local Government Committee
Publisher:: TSO (The Stationery Office)

Communities and Local Government's Departmental Annual Report 2008 (HC 238)

In its January 2008 report (ISBN 9780215037978) on the Communities and Local Government's Departmental Annual Report 2007, the Committee commented on the particular nature of the Department's work:

on its unusual reliance for the achievement of the goals Government has set it on a plethora of other Departments, agencies, non-departmental bodies, local authorities and other stakeholders;
on the long, devolved delivery chains by which those goals therefore have to be delivered; and
on the skills of influence, brokering and negotiation which are required to achieve them.

In this report, 'Communities and Local Government's Departmental Annual Report 2008 (HC 238)', the Committee assesses the progress made since its last report.

The most recent Cabinet Office Capability Review concludes that there has been a positive "direction of travel" for Communities and Local Government (CLG) in that period but the Committee concludes that there is still some way to go before CLG can be said to be performing at the highest achievable level of effectiveness.

The Department's overall performance against its Public Service Agreement targets is likewise moving in the right direction but still short of full effectiveness.

Achievement of efficiency targets is applauded.

Finally, the report considers examples of particular policies that highlight some of the Department's strengths and weaknesses, and follows up some issues from earlier inquiries.

These issues include:

eco-towns;
the Decent Homes programme;
Home Information Packs;
Fire Service response times;
Firebuy;
the FiReControl programme.

The report also considers the Department's response to the serious flooding of summer 2007 and to the reviews that followed, and the mismanagement of European Regional Development Fund monies.

Extent	144 pages	ISBN	9780215526601
Size	A4	Price	£17.50
Binding	Paperback	Published	04 Mar 2009
Availability	Colour copy: 3 - 5 days	Delivery	Delivery options and charges