Interim chair of the Office for Local Government (Oflog), Lord Morse, has announced he will be stepping down at the end of March due to ‘unexpected health reasons’.
‘I am proud of the model for Oflog that we have developed in close collaboration with the local government sector and set out recently in our draft Corporate Plan,’ he said.
‘It is a proportionate and nuanced approach that seeks to act with a light touch and through influence, avoiding some of the heavy-handed methods of previous eras.’
He added: ‘I would have very much liked to continue as interim and perhaps permanent chair of Oflog. It is with great regret that I must stop for unexpected health reasons.’
Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove said: ‘I am immensely grateful to Lord Morse for his tremendous contribution to the establishment and development of Oflog. His counsel and leadership have been instrumental. I am very sorry that he is, with reluctance, stepping down.’
Cllr Shaun Davies, chair of the Local Government Association (LGA), said: ‘I would like to thank Lord Morse for his leadership and extensive engagement with the LGA and wider local government family. We wish him well.
‘Lord Morse has brought essential integrity to the role and we look forward to continuing to work closely with Oflog, and his successor, for the benefit of the sector and the public.’
