Boosting public engagement in the design process and clamping down on the dilution of good proposals through value engineering are two of the interim recommendations from the government’s newly published Building Beautiful, Building Better Commission.

Derided by architects following the appointment of controversial original chair Roger Scruton last year, the commission published its interim report yesterday containing 30 “policy propositions” aimed at improving the quality of new development – and in particular driving public support for new housing.

RIBA president Ben Derbyshire and Design Council chief executive Sarah Weir both welcomed the panel’s findings, although others in the sector are likely to question what is new in a document that routinely quotes from 2014’s Farrell Review - which contained 60 recommendations - and last year’s Raynsford Review.

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