The Homes and Communities Agency has survived the government’s cull of the quangos announced last month. <br> <br> Minister for the cabinet office Francis Maude revealed a list of 192 public bodies that will be abolished whilst 289 are to be reformed. Under the review, the HCA will be “retained and substantially reformed.” <br> <br> The Agency, the government said, would become a smaller enabling and investment body working for local communities. Its London arm will be devolved to the Mayor of London, and the HCA will take over the regulation of social housing from the Tenant Services Authority. <br> <br> But funding for CABE (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) is to be withdrawn from next April, effectively scrapping it as a public body. <br> <br> The shake up of the 481 bodies is part of the government’s “commitment to radically increase the transparency and accountability of all public services.” <br> <br> Pat Ritchie has been appointed as the new chief executive of the HCA. Ritchie is currently the HCA’s director for the North East, and will now head the agency as it moves into its new role as a smaller, enabling and investment organisation. She takes over …