Architecture is the most public of arts, and government is one of the main patrons of new building.
Heritage ministers are stressing this Government's aim to exercise its patronage in ways which will encourage creativity and innovation. All this sounds good. What sounds less good is the near-silence on matters to do with the historic environment. Thirteen years on his successor, Sir Jocelyn Stevens, is still looking. For all the controversy that the scheme might have provoked, it was driven by a desire to reunite elements of a landscape which belong together, and to allow as many people as possible to enjoy a richer experience of the place than they can at present.