A local government minister has admitted that his department has been ‘punching below its weight'. Bob Neill told a London debate last week that the CLG had ‘previously punched below its weight' in dealing with other Whitehall departments but that ‘now with Eric Pickles as secretary of state and Bob Kerslake as permanent under-secretary' that was changing. His comments follow similar claims made by former CLG secretary John Denham in a recent interview with The MJ (July 8) who said: ‘The CLG had too limited a view of itself as a player in government and did not see itself as a policy-maker.' Mr Neill told the debate, organised by Westminster City Council, that ministers were committed to the next round of Total Place. And he predicted that the imminent Decentralisation and Localism Bill would entail 200 clauses.