Nick Dexter has been the Deputy Director responsible for community budgets within the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) since May 2011. He leads on helping the first 16 community budgets, focusing on families with multiple problems, overcome barriers to their effectiveness; rolling out community budgets to other places and to address other service areas; and developing options for spreading the community budgets model to cover new activities, such as neighbourhood budgeting.

Prior to taking up this role he had been Principal Private Secretary to three successive Secretaries of State: Hazel Blears, John Denham, and Eric Pickles.

Between 2005 and 2007 he was responsible for implementing the previous Government’s ambitions for higher levels of housing building (including affordable homes) meeting high environmental standards.

He has worked on many aspects of DCLG’s policies and programmes (and its predecessor Departments) including: housing and planning; local government structures and finance. He also has several years experience of working in local authorities.