Gove IN ; Jenrick OUT

There is little point in speculating on the reasons for Robert Jenrick’s summary dismissal from the cabinet in yesterday’s cabinet reshuffle, although a certain air of sleaziness (no matter how unfair of unjustified it may have been) seemed to hang around him.

Whether Michael Gove is any more clued up about town and country planning, local government or any of the other subjects for which he will now have ministerial responsibility than any of his recent predecessors is a moot point, but he is certainly the most high profile politician to fill this post for some considerable time. He has always struck me as rather an odd-ball, and his recent rather bizarre behaviour has done nothing to dispel that impression.

Gove does at least have a reputation for being effective in getting things done, although it is difficult to identify any particular achievements that he could claim in his most recent role as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster [Cabinet Office Minister] in which he was supposed to play a co-ordinating role across Whitehall to ensure that Bungling Boris’s will (insofar as it could be ascertained from day to day) was done. He retains responsibility for the government’s “levelling up” agenda, which is still no more than a slogan and a hodge-podge of infrastructure projects that will take several years to come to fruition.

I always thought that adding “Housing” to this ministry’s title, and giving it prominence as the first word in that title was an unwise hostage to fortune. 300,000 homes a year still seems to be an unachievable target. Meanwhile, Gove will have a lot of other problems on his ministerial plate, including what to do about the wildly unpopular planning ‘reforms’ that Bungling Boris has decreed and over which ministers and Tory MPs are still arguing furiously. Then there is the question of how to tackle the cladding scandal after five years of inaction following the disastrous Grenfell Tower fire, among several other political hot potatoes.

The man actually responsible for town and country planning will be one of the Parliamentary Under-Secretaries in MHCLG. There may well be a secondary reshuffle today of junior minsters, and it remains to be seen (at the time of writing) who will end up in that role, as what the press will no doubt refer to as the ‘Housing Minister’ or the ‘Planning Minister’. (The same junior minister usually combines both roles.)

So where to now with town and country planning? Frankly, your guess is as good as mine. Bungling Boris appears to be in a particularly gung-ho mood at the moment, and seems to think he can push whatever he wants through parliament. But I still remain profoundly sceptical of the chances of a Planning Bill being introduced until well into the New Year, and what will emerge still remains extremely uncertain. My prediction is that, if it comes forward at all, its provisions are likely to be considerably watered down compared with what was in last year’s White Paper, and it is very unlikely that it will simplify or speed up the planning system in practice.

© MARTIN H GOODALL