Government to scrap Office for Place
The government’s Office for Place is to be closed down and redeployed within the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
The department was launched in 2021, originally as part of the MHCLG, as a specialist public body to work alongside government, local government, the property industry and communities to understand and promote best practices.
Its aim was to help create places that were not only attractive but sustainable, popular and healthy.
The government’s Office for Place is to be closed down and redeployed within the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
The department was launched in 2021, originally as part of the MHCLG, as a specialist public body to work alongside government, local government, the property industry and communities to understand and promote best practices.
Its aim was to help create places that were not only attractive but sustainable, popular and healthy.
Based in Stoke-on-Trent, it was led by chair Nicholas Boys Smith (pictured) and had launched the search for a chief executive in August.
Speaking on the decision to redeploy the public body to the MHCLG, housing minister Matthew Pennycook said: “In taking the decision to wind up the Office for Place, the government is not downgrading the importance of good design and placemaking, or the role of design coding in improving the quality of development.
“Rather, by drawing expertise and responsibility back into MHCLG, I want the pursuit of good design and placemaking to be a fully integrated consideration as the government reforms the planning system, rolls out digital local plans and provides support to local authorities and strategic planning authorities.
“I also believe that embedding this work within MHCLG will allow experience to be better reflected in decision-making, as well as integrated within an existing delivery team in Homes England already focused on design and placemaking.”
