The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is the UK Government department for

housing Housing, or more generally living spaces, refers to the construction Construction is a general term meaning the and to form , , or ,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) ...

communities A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as norms, religion Religion is a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, wor ...

local government in England The pattern of local government in England is complex, with the distribution of functions varying according to the local arrangements. Legislation concerning local government in England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, coun ...

and the levelling up policy. It was established in May 2006 and is the successor to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, established in 2001. The department shares its headquarters building, at

2 Marsham Street 2 Marsham Street is an office building on Marsham Street Marsham Street is a street in the City of Westminster City of Westminster is an Inner London, inner London City status in the United Kingdom, city and London boroughs, borough. It h ...

in London, with the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom ga, Rialtas na Ríochta Aontaithe sco, Govren ...

. From summer 2021, 500 members of staff and civil servants will start to relocate to

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city A city is a large human settlement.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: ...

as the department prepares to be first UK government department to have a headquarters based outside of London. It is hoped the move will be completed by 2025. It was renamed to add Housing to its title and changed to a ministry in January 2018, and later reverted to a government department in the 2021 reshuffle. There are corresponding departments in the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government ( gd, Riaghaltas na h-Alba, ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 Scottish devolution referendum, 1997 referendum on S ...

, the

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( cy, Llywodraeth Cymru) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of ministers, who attend cabinet meetings, and Minister (government), deputy ministers who do not, and als ...

and the

Northern Ireland Executive The Northern Ireland Executive is the devolved Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government A central government is the government A government is the system or group of people governing a ...

, responsible for communities and local government in their respective jurisdictions.

Ministers

The DLUHC's ministers are as follows: The

Permanent Secretary

Jeremy Pocklington Jeremy may refer to: * Jeremy (given name), a given name * Jérémy, a French given name * Jeremy (film), ''Jeremy'' (film), a 1973 film * Jeremy (song), "Jeremy" (song), a song by Pearl Jam * Jeremy (snail), a left-coiled garden snail that died in ...

who took up his post on 30 March 2020. Henry Smith was appointed

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative of the people who live in their constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative distri ...

to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on 26 May 2015.

History

DLUHC was formed in July 2001 as part of the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (country subdivision), a geographical and admin ...

with the title Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), headed by the then Deputy Prime Minister,

John Prescott John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott (born 31 May 1938) is a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The Deputy prime minister of the United Kingdom (DPM) is a senior minister of the Crown Minister ...

. In May 2002 the ODPM became a separate department after absorbing the local government and regions portfolios from the defunct

Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions The secretary of state for transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Depart ...

. The ODPM was criticised in some quarters for adding little value and the Environmental Audit Committee had reported negatively on the department in the past. During the 5 May 2006

reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle is when a head of government The head of government is either the highest or second highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, ...

of Tony Blair's government, it was renamed and

Ruth Kelly Ruth Maria Kelly (born 9 May 1968) is a former British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician, serving as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolton West (UK Parliament constituency), Bolton West from 1997 Un ...

succeeded

David Miliband David Wright Miliband (born 15 July 1965) is the president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) A president is a leader of an organization, company, community, club, trade union, university or other group. The rela ...

to become the first

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government The secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, also referred to as the levelling up secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom The Government of the United Kingdom, domestically referre ...

at the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). In January 2018, as part of Theresa May's Cabinet reshuffle, the department was renamed the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). In September 2021,

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer serving as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government The head of govern ...

renamed the department yet again, calling it the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), being more powers outside of just England to manage funds across the United Kingdom. On 20 February 2021, it was announced as part of the government's levelling up policy, that DLUHC would be the first government department to have a headquarters based outside of London. Five hundred posts, including those of senior civil servants, will be moving to

by 2025. On 23 February 2021, the then Secretary of State,

Robert Jenrick Robert Edward Jenrick (born 9 January 1982) is a British Conservative Party politician serving as Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government since 2019. He has served as Member of Parliament A member of parliament (M ...

, announced he was hopeful that staff would be working in

by the summer of 2021. He also announced that they were considering building a new office development in or around the city centre to house the new headquarters. The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, suggested it should be within walking distance of local newspaper ''

Express & Star The ''Express & Star'' is a regional evening newspaper in Britain. Founded in 1889, it is based in Wolverhampton, England, and covers the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county and Staffordshire. Currently edited by Martin Wright, the '' ...

'', where he previously did work experience. As DLUHC looks set to relocate some 500 members of staff to Wolverhampton, Robert Jenrick officially opened its new Wolverhampton offices at the recently completed i9 office development on 10 September 2021. At the opening of the new office development the Secretary of State was joined by the leader of

City of Wolverhampton Council City of Wolverhampton Council is the governing body of the city of Wolverhampton, England. It was previously known as Wolverhampton Metropolitan Borough Council (WMBC) prior to the award of City status in the United Kingdom, city status in 2000, ...

Ian Brookfield and the West Midlands Mayor,

Andy Street Andrew John Street (born 11 June 1963) is a British businessman and Conservative Party Conservative Party may refer to: Europe Current *Croatian Conservative Party, *Conservative Party (Czech Republic) *Conservative People's Party (Denmark) *C ...

Secretaries of State

11 May 2005 – 5 May 2006 *

5 May 2006 – 27 June 2007 *

Hazel Blears Hazel Anne Blears (born 14 May 1956) is a former British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people The British people, or Britons, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ...

27 June 2007 – 5 June 2009 * John Denham 5 June 2009 – 11 May 2010 *

Eric Pickles Eric Jack Pickles, Baron Pickles, (born 20 April 1952) is a British Conservative Party Conservative Party may refer to: Europe Current *Croatian Conservative Party, *Conservative Party (Czech Republic) *Conservative People's Party (Denmark) ...

12 May 2010 – 11 May 2015 *

Greg Clark Gregory David Clark (born 28 August 1967) is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative of the people who live in their constituency. In many countries w ...

11 May 2015 – 14 July 2016 *

Sajid Javid Sajid Javid (; born 5 December 1969) is a British politician who has been Secretary of State for Health and Social Care The secretary of state for health and social care, also referred to as the health secretary, is a secretary of state ...

13 July 2016 – 30 April 2018 *

James Brokenshire James Peter Brokenshire (born 8 January 1968) is a British politician, most recently serving as Minister of State for Security at the Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliam ...

30 April 2018 – 24 July 2019 *

24 July 2019 – 15 September 2021 *

Michael Gove Michael Andrew Gove (; born Graeme Andrew Logan; 26 August 1967) is a British politician, journalist and author serving as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations since 2021. ...

15 September 2021 – present

Responsibilities

The department is responsible for

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policy in the following areas, mainly in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. E ...

England

: * Building regulations *

Community cohesionHistory The concept of community cohesion was established in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain,Usage is mixed. The Guardian' and Telegraph' use Bri ...

* Community resilience *

Housing Housing, or more generally living spaces, refers to the construction Construction is a general term meaning the and to form , , or ,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) ...

Housing

Local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration Public administration is the implementation of government policy Public policy is a course of action created and/or enacted, typically by a government ...

Planning Planning is the process A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic. Things called a process include: Business and management *Business process A business p ...

* Race equality * The

Thames Gateway Thames Gateway is a term applied to an area around the Thames Estuary The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southe ...

Urban regeneration File:Cabrini Green Housing Project.jpg, upright=1.35, 1999 photograph looking northeast on Chicago's Cabrini–Green Homes, Cabrini–Green Public housing, housing project, one of many urban renewal efforts Urban renewal (also called urban regene ...

Levelling Up

The Levelling Up Taskforce was formed in September 2021 headed by former Bank of England Chief Economist

Andy Haldane Andrew G. Haldane, FAcSSThe Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) is an award granted by the Academy of Social Sciences to leading academics, policy-makers, and practitioners of the social sciences. Fellows were previously known a ...

. The Levelling Up policy was not initially defined in detail, but would include: *Investing in towns, cities, and rural and coastal areas *Giving those areas more control of how investment is made *Levelling up skills using apprenticeships and a £3 billion National Skills Fund *Helping the farming and fishing industries *Creating up to 10 freeports to help deprived communities

Bodies sponsored by DLUHC

Executive agencies

Planning Inspectorate The Planning Inspectorate for England and Wales (sometimes referred to as PINS) ( cy, Yr Arolygiaeth Gynllunio) is an executive agency An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily sepa ...

* Queen Elizabeth II Centre The department also was previously responsible for two other agencies. On 18 July 2011

Ordnance Survey , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg , logo_width = 240px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , di ...

was transferred to the

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills , type = Department , logo = Department for Business, Innovation and Skills logo.svg , logo_width = 200px , logo_caption = , picture = File:Лондан. 2014. Жнівень 26.JPG , seal = , se ...

and on 28 February 2013 the

Fire Service College The Fire Service College is responsible for providing leadership, management and advanced operational training courses for senior fire officers from the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known ...

was sold to

Capita Capita plc (), commonly known as Capita, is an international business process outsourcing Outsourcing is an agreement in which one company hires another company to be responsible for a planned or existing activity that is or could be done inte ...

Non-departmental public bodies

In January 2007, Ruth Kelly announced proposals to bring together the delivery functions of the

Housing Corporation The Housing Corporation was the non-departmental public body that funded new affordable housing and regulated housing associations in England. It was established by the Housing Act 1964. On 1 December 2008, its functions were transferred to two new ...

English PartnershipsEnglish Partnerships (EP) was the national regeneration agency for England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The ...

and parts of the then Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government to form a new unified housing and regeneration agency, the

Homes and Communities Agency Homes England is the non-departmental public bodyIn the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, HM Treasury, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to pub ...

(renamed ''Homes England'' in 2018). Initially announced as Communities England, it became operational in December 2008. This also includes the Academy for Sustainable Communities. 2008 was also the year that the department along with the

Local Government Association The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local authorities. Its core membership is made up of 339 English councils and the 22 Welsh councils through the Welsh Local Government Association. The LGA is po ...

produced the National Improvement and Efficiency Strategy which led to the creation of nine Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships (RIEPs) with devolved funding of £185m to drive sector-led improvement for councils.

Devolution

Its main counterparts in the devolved nations of the UK are as follows. Scotland * Communities Directorates *

Learning and Justice Directorates The Scottish Government Education, Communities and Justice Directorates are a group of civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than ...

Northern Ireland * Executive Office (civil resilience, community cohesion, race relations) *

Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) is a government department in the Northern Ireland Executive The Northern Ireland Executive is the devolved government of Northern Ireland, an administrative branch of t ...

(local government, planning) *

Department of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names across the world, such as "treasury", ...

(building regulations) *

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, gover ...

(fire services) *

Department for Communities Department may refer to: * DepartmentalizationDepartmentalization (or departmentalisation) refers to the process of grouping activities into departments. Division of labour creates Expert, specialists who need :wikt:coordination, coordination. This ...

(housing, urban regeneration) Wales * Welsh Government Department for Local Government and Public Services

References

External links

Official websiteLocal Government ChannelCommunities UK

YouTube YouTube is an American online video sharing and social media platform Social media are interactive technologies that allow the Content creation, creation or information sharing, sharing/exchange of information, ideas, career interests, an ...

YouTube

channel {{UK planning Ministerial departments of the Government of the United Kingdom 2006 establishments in the United Kingdom 2006 establishments in England

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain,Usage is mixed. The Guardian' and Telegraph' use Britain as a synonym for the United Kingdom. Some prefer to use Britain as shorth ...

Ministries established in 2006 Governance of England Local government ministries