Prime Minister David Cameron is appointing a new cabinet following the Conservative Party’s majority victory in last week’s General Election – in a reshuffle that has seen Environment Secretary Liz Truss keep her post.
Mr Pickles, the outspoken MP for Brentwood & Ongar, had headed up the Department throughout the five years of the Coalition Government and is replaced by Greg Clark, previously the minister of state for universities.
Corruption
In his new role it is thought that Mr Pickles will be likely to look at tackling corruption in prisons – something that the Conservative Party had identified as a priority in its manifesto.
As Communities Secretary he gained notoriety amongst local authority officers for his impassioned support of weekly waste collections, and launched a £250 million fund in a bid to encourage councils to keep or re-instate collections on a weekly basis.
It is not known whether DCLG will continue to pursue this policy under the stewardship of Mr Clark, and there was no indication in the Conservative manifesto that this would continue to be a party policy.
Clark
MP for Tunbridge Wells since 2005 Mr Clark has held a number of roles within government, including the now defunct position of minister of state for decentralisation and planning between 2010 and 2012 and financial secretary to the Treasury between 2012 and 2014.
He has previously spoken out in favour of increasing energy from waste capacity in the UK at a meeting with the British Plastics Federation in 2010, arguing the country needed a mix of facilities and no just anaerobic digestion.
At the time, he said the Party would consider a ‘public information campaign’ on the benefits of EfW to raise awareness, although this did not materialise during the course of the coalition government.
Tweeting following the news that he has been removed from the post, Mr Pickles said: “I could not wish for a better successor than @gregclarkmp He will do a fantastic jog [sic]. More announcements later in the week of my new role”
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