MPs criticise eco-town policy

4 March 2009

MPs have criticised the government's eco town policy claiming it will not make a significant contribution towards meeting targets for new homes.

Members of the Communities and Local Government select committee said that it was "highly unlikely" 100,000 new homes would be achieved by building eco towns.

"The eco-towns policy is clearly in some difficulty. It was bound to be affected adversely by the general slowdown in the housing market, but even so the difference between the original vision and the proposals which are now emerging is considerable," the committee said in its annual report on the DCLG.

The MPs described the department's performance as "patchy", noting that it was meeting only one of its public service agreement targets on housing supply, and that was unlikely to be maintained.

They said they did not have enough information to be able to assess whether the department was meeting its strategic objectives to deliver an efficient and transparent planning system.

A "poor management culture" within DCLG was criticised by the committee but it praised the department's performance in response to the floods of 2007.

The report can be read here.

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