Rapid ministerial turnover is damaging government, according to the head of the local government spending watchdog.

In an article published in today’s Financial Times, Steve Bundred complains that in his six years as chief executive of the Audit Commission there have been five different cabinet ministers with responsibility for local government.

He points out that John Healey, the housing minister, is the third person to hold that post in the past year, meaning that over the course of Labour’s time in office there have been nine different ministers – with an average tenure of just 16 months.

Bundred points out that a local authority with a similar rate of turnover among its chief executives “would be worrying those selfsame ministers”.

“In the even more complex sphere of national government, it is hard to see how a minister expecting to be in the post for less than 18 months can achieve anything by way of lasting change,” he writes.

“New ministers will always want to promote new initiatives. But policy changes need to follow through if they are to stick. The devil is often in the detail, and ministers need to stay close, for an extended period.”

A report in June from centrist think-tank Demos argued that the high level of ministerial churn placed too much power in the hands of expert civil servants, and called for three-year terms for ministers.