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Senior MPs have published a stinging critique of the CLG, claiming the department is not a ‘big hitter' within Whitehall, and lacks the skills and expertise necessary to deliver key parts of its remit. The Commons' communities and local government select committee, chaired by Labour MP Phyllis Starkey, blames many of the department's problems on the high turnover of both ministers and civil servants since its inception in 2006. The MPs' concerns are laid bare in the committee's annual report on the CLG, published on 5 March. Ms Starkey said: ‘Our report acknowledges improvements in CLG's performance and influence over the last year. However, the department has yet to become the kind of "big hitter" it needs to be in Whitehall, and we have yet to see consistent and sustained evidence that the department possesses the full range of skills required for the effective formulation and delivery of the policies for which it is responsible.' The department's planning policy skills are heavily criticised, while its efficiency work is questioned at a time when all Whitehall departments are under pressure to deliver new savings. MPs warn a ‘failure to realise the department's overall target to shave £887m out of its budget by March 2011 will leave a serious hole in its plans'. High turnover of staff at political and officer level exacerbates some internal problems, the MPs suggest. ‘It cannot help that officials serve an average tenure of just nine months, and that, over the lifetime of the department so far, senior ministers have remained in post for barely a year,' Ms Starkey explained. The report states such high turnover of staff is ‘not a sensible way to run an organisation' and urges the prime minister to ease the rapid turnover of ministers. Ms Starkey's committee became the second parliamentary body to criticise staff ‘churn' last week. The Transport select committee also published a report admonishing high ministerial turnover at the Department for Transport. One senior Whitehall insider said: ‘Perhaps it is time for governments to reconsider this modern phenomenon of reshuffling ministers so regularly. However, one suspects parliamentary politics – and the perceived need to avoid ministers "going native" in their department – makes that difficult.' Ms Starkey's report also expresses frustration that no complete figures are available to show how well CLG is doing, including poor assessments of performance against crucial Public Service Agreement targets. But the report is not all doom and gloom. The CLG's house-building programme receives widespread praise, while the fire and rescue unit gets the thumbs-up for helping fire authorities reduce the incidence of fire across the UK.

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WHITEHALL

High staff turnover blamed in MPs' stinging critique of CLG

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