星空传媒

Poachers

Sarah Webb

WAS: head of the community housing taskforce, ODPM

NOW: director of policy, Chartered Institute of Housing, since March 2003

鈥淚t should be compulsory for civil servants to do a year on the outside,鈥� says Webb.

鈥淭he freedom to say what you actually think is great. You are obviously much more constrained when you are a government spokeswoman.

鈥淗owever, it is a bit scary when you can no longer hide behind the press office 鈥� you feel exposed, a bit naked really.鈥�

She has certainly taken full advantage of her new-found freedom since vacating her desk at Eland House 18 months ago. 鈥淢y old colleagues have said to me, 鈥榃hy on Earth did you say that?鈥� But where I鈥檝e disagreed with the ODPM, I鈥檝e tried to explain to them why I take a certain position 鈥� for example, on decent homes. But I try not to just slag civil servants off for the sake of it 鈥� I know what it feels like to be on the receiving end.鈥�

Webb has no regrets about leaving and returning to life as a poacher 鈥� she was formerly at Birmingham council.

鈥淎t the ODPM I was quite narrowly confined in what I did, but at the CIH I have a much wider scope. However, I wouldn鈥檛 swap my experience at the civil service for anything in the world. There is nothing like the buzz of being right at the centre of things. I would definitely go back but I鈥檓 not sure if they鈥檇 have me back.鈥�

Gerard Lemos

WAS: head of housing advisory group at the Audit Commission

NOW: chair of Notting Hill Housing Group, starting this month

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to ever become solely a quango queen,鈥� declares Lemos. 鈥淵ou can get rather detached if you鈥檙e in an organisation that鈥檚 not on the front line.鈥�

Even as head of the Audit Commission鈥檚 housing advisory group, Lemos isn鈥檛 in any immediate danger of ivory-tower isolation. He鈥檚 just won the chair鈥檚 job at his beloved Notting Hill Housing Group and in December will complete the transformation from gamekeeper to poacher when he winds up his four-year tenure at the Audit Commission. He believes a spell on the other side of the fence is something everyone should try.

鈥淭he boards of housing associations aren鈥檛 exactly on the front line,鈥� he concedes, 鈥渂ut at least you鈥檙e dealing with the issues and there鈥檚 more unpredictability. There鈥檚 something very calm about the regulatory office environment. There鈥檚 a cycle, you鈥檙e not really shaken up by external events very much. It鈥檚 a bit like being a researcher.鈥�

He doesn鈥檛 envisage any immediate clashes with his former colleagues as he starts work lifting low-performing Notting Hill out of the doldrums 鈥� having come fresh from devising the very regime he must navigate 鈥� but he鈥檚 hardly known for shrinking from confrontation. 鈥淭hings might change. If regulatory requirements are not in the best interest of the organisation I would certainly say so.鈥�

Simon Dow

WAS: acting chief executive of the Housing Corporation

NOW: chief executive of the Guinness Trust, since the end of 2000

鈥淭here were not too many downsides to working for the corporation,鈥� says Dow, 鈥渂ut one was definitely trying to get ministers to understand that the idea they鈥檇 had in the bath that morning would perhaps have some practical problems. Rent restructuring was an example of this.鈥�

Dow has had two stints at Maple House in the 1980s and 1990s but says that, when back on the other side of the fence at Southern Housing Group or Guinness, his contemporaries have been remarkably nice. 鈥淧eople would take me aside to say 鈥榯his isn鈥檛 working鈥� but, by and large, switching sides was attractive because of the varied experiences it gave me. I don鈥檛 really understand why more people don鈥檛 work for a couple of years at the corporation.

鈥淭here are a lot of good things about working there but, having been there twice, I do know that I much prefer working on the housing association side.鈥�

Mike Gahagan

WAS: director of housing, ODPM

NOW: chair of Transform South Yorkshire market renewal pathfinder and board member of Paradigm Housing Group, since April 2003

Gahagan laughs when it is suggested that he is the quintessential gamekeeper turned poacher but, after 37 years in the civil service, retirement meant he finally got the chance to implement some of the policies he had been making for so long.

鈥淚 was desperately keen to work on implementing pathfinder policy and it has been very exciting,鈥� he says. However, his time at Paradigm has been even more eye-opening.

鈥淚 was slightly surprised by how much notice they took of government edicts. At one board meeting we had a whole session on the Communities Plan. I found it quite humbling really. In the ODPM, we really didn鈥檛 think people took all that much notice.鈥�

Would he consider going back? 鈥淥h no, I鈥檝e done my time. But I miss the experience of going out and meeting people around the country. That for me was the best bit.鈥�

I try not to slag civil servants off for the sake of it 鈥� I know what it feels like to be on the receiving end

Sarah Webb, CIH

鈥淥ne thing I do envy people is that when I started in the civil service it was very difficult to leave. Now it is much more easy to switch sides and I would definitely recommend it to youngsters now.鈥�

Gamekeepers

Steve Douglas

WAS: chief executive of Asra Greater London

NOW: regional director for London at the Housing Corporation, since April 2001

鈥淢y new colleagues were very interested to know the tricks of the trade,鈥� says Douglas. 鈥淪o I, of course, revealed the few that I knew.鈥�

He adds that he found the transition from housing association to the regulator 鈥減retty straightforward鈥�. There was never any question of him being a 鈥渟oft touch鈥� to his former contemporaries at other associations just because he knew what they were going through.

鈥淎sking questions I already knew the answers to felt a bit odd at first, [but] I would definitely recommend moving between sectors, but you should always beware of 鈥榮ector capture鈥� 鈥� where you get too close to your old job.鈥�

Douglas does, however, admit to occasionally hankering after his previous life. 鈥淚 miss the close contact with tenants that I used to get. I still get some of that by getting out of the office as much as I can but it鈥檚 not quite the same.鈥�

Louise Casey

Was: deputy director of Shelter

Now: head of the Home Office鈥檚 antisocial behaviour unit, since 1999

Casey hasn鈥檛 so much switched sides as straddled the two to become a sharp-shooting, take-no-prisoners hybrid with a distinct campaigning flavour. Of her move from Shelter to the newly formed rough sleepers unit in 1999, she says: 鈥淚t was a dream come true. With B&Bs, the government took one of Shelter鈥檚 own causes. Not only did I get 拢30m and two years to help councils sort it out, but they brought in a law. You can鈥檛 do that much outside.鈥�

Life in the civil service inevitably moves much slower, but Casey has tried to create enclaves of the voluntary ethos within both the homelessness directorate (which emerged from the old RSU) and within her team at the Home Office. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the belief in what we鈥檙e doing, in people鈥檚 hearts and minds 鈥� I鈥檝e tried to set up that style within government. I鈥檓 working with a bunch of like-minded people, many of them have come from charities.鈥�

Neither does Casey lurk in the shadows of Whitehall, as many civil servants prefer to do. Whether chatting to residents on estates or addressing packed conference halls, she has a 鈥渨oman of the people鈥� air that adds an immediacy to her demands for action, whether on nuisance neighbours or homeless families. 鈥淚 learned that from [director of Shelter until 1994] Sheila McKechnie. You couldn鈥檛 work with Sheila without learning about soundbites and how to make people believe in what you鈥檙e doing.鈥�

Roy Irwin

WAS: director of housing, Bristol council

NOW: chief inspector of housing, Audit Commission, since October 1999

At Bristol council, Irwin brought in best-value service reviews in 1996, four years before the government caught up. Since he spotted an ad in The Times for the chief inspector post and took 鈥渁n opportunity I couldn鈥檛 refuse鈥�, he鈥檚 been able to inspect everyone else鈥檚 services as well. It鈥檚 been an eye-opening experience. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like The X-Files 鈥� all life is out there. When you go into an organisation to see what they鈥檙e doing, you鈥檙e a fellow traveller. Some people admit they鈥檙e not doing so well in certain areas, but some are in a wacky wonderland.鈥�

Removing the scales from the eyes of the 鈥渇lat Earth society鈥� as he calls them, was always going to come at a price, and Irwin admits his old contemporaries do treat him differently since he joined the government top table.

鈥淚t鈥檚 inevitable 鈥� it鈥檚 business. You can鈥檛 be a player one day and a referee the next and expect the other players to see you in the same light. There are more important things at stake here. Do I tell them they鈥檙e better than they are to stay friends?鈥�

Richard McCarthy

WAS: chief executive of Peabody Trust and chair of National Housing Federation

NOW: director-general of sustainable communities, ODPM, since October 2003

Housing鈥檚 most famous poacher turned gamekeeper is Richard McCarthy 鈥� so much so that John Prescott described him as such last week to titters from a packed hall at the National Housing Federation conference.

The chief executive job at 16,000-unit Peabody Trust is one of the sector鈥檚 most prestigious, but since he moved to the ODPM last October, McCarthy has adapted to his much lower-profile role delivering the Communities Plan to command an expanding empire encompassing the Housing Corporation, English Partnerships and the whole of housing and planning.

Never was the transformation so apparent as when McCarthy watched new NHF chair Richard Clark deliver the keynote conference speech from the other side of the stage. He sat at Prescott鈥檚 right hand, supplying facts sotto voce to aid the deputy prime minister during the questions from the audience.

While many poachers turned gamekeepers bemoan the slow pace of civil service life, McCarthy seems to be finding his new role is quite enough to keep him busy: 鈥淚 was in an organisation that was a delivery agent out in the field, now here I am in government. We鈥檙e getting through projects, we鈥檙e making things happen. There鈥檚 a real sense of urgency across the organisation.鈥�

He鈥檚 not completely forgotten his roots though: McCarthy is never without his In Business lapel badge.