It is good to welcome a new communities and localgovernment secretary with some history in the sector. Indeed, James Brokenshire is unusual in having grown up in a local government background and for whom - as he confessed on his first day in the Commons in his new job - it is 'in my blood.' His late father, Peter, was a former council chief executive and later director of management practice at the Audit Commission, at one point becoming acting controller in 1992 after the departure of Howard Davies. Peter found himself grappling with the Citizen's Charter, the attempt by the Government of John Major to bring consumerism into public services.Peter also backed an idea to create a management consultancy subsidiary of the commission called Audit Commission Associates. The plan was eventually abandoned over fears that it would distort the commission's remit and create a conflict of interest. (The subject is covered in the voluminous history of the commission, Follow the Money.)
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