CABE & Design Council Combination To Open doors on April 1st

Design Council, 34, Bow St.

The new organisation is to retain the Design Council name and its status as Royal Charter Charity but it will cease to be a Non-Departmental Government Body.

The new functions provided have been provisionally agreed to be:

• Design Review, which provides expert advice to councils, developers and communities through reviews of major proposed projects both at a national and local level
• Promoting the value of good building and spatial design to businesses and communities and, in particular, facilitating well-designed new homes and neighbourhoods
• Mentoring and advice to businesses, public services and university technology offices on the strategic use of design, from a national team of expert design strategists
• High profile design challenges which bring together the best in design, manufacturing and services to develop and introduce innovative solutions to national issues in health, security and sustainability

Grant Shapps, the Minister of State for Housing & Local Government said: ‘I want local residents themselves to have a much greater say over how their communities are designed. By merging these elements of the Design Council and the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, we can continue to improve the local support that is available for people to do this, and build on the strong track record in offering mentoring, training and support.’

The Design Council will now liaise with CABE staff to discuss the new organisational structure of the alliance. Once this is finalised the roles of the new Design Council will be announced.