Back in 2016, a House of Lord’s committee acting on the recommendations of the RIBA and others, called on the government to appoint a Chief Built Environment Adviser to “co-ordinate relevant policy across central government departments, act as a champion for higher standards and to promote good practice across and beyond government.”

As always, things in the civil service have a habit of taking a while to come to fruition, but the good news is that we now have a head of architecture in Andy von Bradsky, with a remit not just to “advise on architectural policy and practice” but also to “to ensure that across government programmes the importance of design outcomes is recognised and implemented”. The new role and the wider built environment team that sits within Steve Quartermain’s kingdom over at Marsham Street are an opportunity to change how design issues are handled within government.

So what are the big items we hope the team will be able to influence?

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