A recent report on Local Area Agreements described the Department for Communities and Local Government as the ‘cheerleader' for local government within Whitehall.

Actually, minister Ruth Kelly, and permanent secretary Peter Housden want the DCLG to be seen as champions of local communities rather than lobbyists for local authorities. But, inevitably, when it comes to big policy decisions, if the DCLG does not take on the cheerleading role, then no other department will. So, as the dust starts to settle on the White Paper, we can start to assess how effective the cheerleader has been.