One of the best jokes about Government reshuffles is that they are like 'rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic' for Prime Ministers facing troubled times. They often result in few substantive changes of direction and just cause disruption.  Blair and Brown were constantly moving ministers around and restructuring departments. Cameron and Clegg, to their credit, have made few changes at Cabinet level since 2010 and have generally allowed junior ministers the longevity needed to learn their brief.

Unlike last year's reshuffle, which was unusual in that it appeared to be designed with a clear agenda - to encourage economic growth (see my summary of that reshuffle here) - this year sees few changes in theme, and no clear impact on planning and development policy.

Nick Boles still leads on planning at the DCLG, annoying countryside campaigners and trying to reassure the industry. Eric Pickles remains in the chair, trumpeting the Localism agenda.  The major change at the department is the removal of housing minister Mark Prisk, who seems to have been considered effective by the industry, but was not a media performer.

His replacement is Kris Hopkins, whose approach appears to be business as usual. He has been portrayed as a rural champion by virtue of his Keighley constituency, but he cut his teeth as leader of Bradford City Council so has more experience in urban politics. His job will be to give the Government's housing policy a higher profile ahead of the 2015 election.

However, housing policy is intrinsically linked to national and local Government policies on planning. The non-debate about the Green Belt continues to obfuscate the key issue facing housing delivery, namely that the right sites in the right places are not being made available for development.

National and local government may struggle to provide the solution to this challenge due to the mostly negative nature of local planning debate. Therefore it leaves the development industry (and their consultants) to make the case for the new homes and infrastructure that will underpin economic growth.

Reshuffling ministers is easy, but reshuffling the politics of housing and planning is a challenge that requires Government and industry to work together in an honest and constructive manner - watch this space.

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