The minister responsible for delivering the new towns programme needs to be of “sufficient rank” to co-ordinate across departments and get the Treasury to “step up”, according to the chair of the House of Lords built environment committee.

Speaking to Housing Today earlier this week, Lord Gascoigne suggested the current setup, a cabinet committee led by housing minister Matthew Pennycook, was not sufficient and express his preference for a senior minister working closely with No 10 to run the programme.