Tributes paid to Lord Bob Kerslake

Local and central government figures have paid tribute to former head of the civil service Lord Kerslake, who died on Saturday aged 68.

Bob Kerslake led the civil service between 2012 and 2014 under the coalition government. Alongside this role, he also served as permanent secretary at the Department for Communities and Local Government between 2010 and 2015, overseeing housing policy in the austerity era as ministers pushed through cuts to housing funding.

Born in Bath, Somerset, Lord Kerslake graduated with a mathematics degree from Warwick University before beginning his local government career at the Greater London Council, going on to serve as chief executive of Hounslow LBC and Sheffield City Council.

From 2008 to 2010, he was chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency, a predecessor body of Homes England which administered billions of pounds of grant funding for affordable homes programmes.

In July 2017, he was appointed as the chair of the independent investigation of the Manchester Arena bombing. The results of the investigation, commonly referred to as the Kerslake Report, were published in March 2018.

Last month, he received the award for Outstanding Contribution to Local Government at The Municipal Journal Achievement Awards.

Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer said:

"Bob was a talented public servant, utmost professional, and a good man. He was rightly respected across Westminster for his experience and wisdom, and I'm grateful for his recent contributions to the Labour Party."

Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of Stockport Council said:

“With a contacts book second to none, Bob was a high-profile and powerful ambassador for the transformation of our town centre and our ambitious regeneration programme. Scrupulously fair, objective, and always far-sighted, he made a massive difference and leaves a lasting legacy for us all. We will miss him terribly.”