Eric Pickles has been dropped as secretary of state for communities and local government.
He is being replaced by Greg Clark who was minister of state for universities, science and cities.
Clark will play a key role in developing chancellor George Osborne’s northern powerhouse.
Simon Neate, chairman of Indigo Planning, laid out what he felt Clark’s priorities should be in his new role.
He also raised the issue of underfunding for planning departments. He said he wanted Clark to: “Build up local authority planning teams until they can process planning applications to agreed time frames. Or at the very least ring fence current numbers. Cuts here are not an efficiency, but a significant curb on growth and investment.”
