The recently retired Chief Executive of the Department of Local Government and the Environment says he doesn't believe the issue of local government reform was responsible for former DoLGE minister John Rimington losing his seat in the House of Keys.

On this morning's Talking Heads programme Anthony Hamilton said Mr Rimington was very dedicated to his role and will be sadly missed from government.

Mr Hamilton (pictured) says the day to day demands of the DoLGE are like no other department and Mr Rimington paid the price for being too conscientious (audio file attached):

Mr Hamilton also claims that local government reform has never been driven by the civil service (audio file attached):