Department for Communities and Local Government
Department overview | |
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Formed | May 2006 |
Jurisdiction | England |
Headquarters | 2 Marsham Street, London, England |
Annual budget | £28.1 billion (current) & £3.5 billion (capital) for 2011-12 [1] |
Minister responsible | |
Department executive | |
Website |
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The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) is the UK Government department for communities and local government in England. It was established in May 2006 and is the successor to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, established in 2001. Its headquarters is located at 2 Marsham Street, London.
There are corresponding departments in the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive, responsible for communities and local government in their respective jurisdictions.
Ministers
The Communities and Local Government ministers are as follows:[2]
Minister | Rank | Portfolio |
---|---|---|
The Rt Hon. Greg Clark MP | Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government |
Overall leadership of the department, Troubled Families |
The Rt Hon. Mark Francois MP | Minister of State Minister for Portsmouth |
Coastal communities and Thames Gateway, fire and resilience, departmental finance and corporate issues, overview of local government policy and finance, deregulation, lead minister on the Devolution Bill 2015, Portsmouth |
Brandon Lewis, MP | Minister of State | Housing, Ebbsfleet, planning policy, neighbourhood planning, lead minister on the Housing Bill, planning casework |
Marcus Jones MP | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State | Local government policy, local government finance, homelessness, community rights high streets, town centres and markets, welfare reform, supporting minister on the Housing Bill, planning casework |
James Wharton MP | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State | Northern Powerhouse, city deals, European Regional Development Fund, Enterprise Zones and Local Enterprise Partnerships, building regulations, supporting minister on the Devolution Bill, planning casework |
Baroness Williams of Trafford | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State | Departmental business in the House of Lords, local government finance and policy, integration and faith, High Speed Rail 2 (HS2), Travellers, supporting the Secretary of State on City Deals and Troubled Families, women and equalities (supporting the Department for Education in the House of Lords) |
Richard Harrington MP | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (jointly with the Home Office and Department for International Development | Syrian refugees |
As well as working at the Department for Communities and Local Government, Richard Harrington works jointly at the Home Office and the Department for International Development.
The Permanent Secretary is Melanie Dawes who took up her post on 1 March 2015.[3]
Henry Smith was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on 26 May 2015.[4]
Background
DCLG was formed in July 2001 as part of the Cabinet Office with the title Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), headed by the then Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott. 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 ODPM was criticised in some quarters for adding little value and the Environmental Audit Committee had reported negatively on the department in the past.[5][6] During the 5 May 2006 reshuffle of Tony Blair's government, it was renamed and Ruth Kelly became the first Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
Responsibilities
The department is responsible for UK Government policy in the following areas, mainly in England:[7]
- building regulations
- community cohesion
- decentralisation
- fire services and community resilience
- housing
- local government
- planning
- race equality
- the Thames Gateway
- urban regeneration
On its creation it also assumed the community policy function of the Home Office. Ministers have since established the Commission on Integration and Cohesion, and the now separate Government Equalities Office.
Executive agencies
The department also was previously responsible for two other agencies. On 18 July 2011 Ordnance Survey was transferred to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills[8] and on 28 February 2013 the Fire Service College was sold to Capita.[9]
Non-departmental public bodies
In January 2007, Ruth Kelly announced proposals to bring together the delivery functions of the Housing Corporation, English Partnerships and parts of the Department for Communities and Local Government to form a new unified housing and regeneration agency, the Homes and Communities Agency. 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 produced the National Improvement and Efficiency Strategy [10] which led to the creation of 9 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
- Governance and Communities Directorate
- Justice Directorate
Northern Ireland
- Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister (civil resilience, community cohesion, race relations)
- Department of the Environment (local government, planning)
- Department of Finance and Personnel (building regulations)
- Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (fire services)
- Department for Social Development (housing, urban regeneration)
Wales
- Department for Communities & Local Government (local government, housing, urban regeneration, civil resilience, fire services, community cohesion, race relations)
- Department of Environment & Sustainable Development (planning)
See also
- United Kingdom budget
- Council house
- Energy efficiency in British housing
- Flag protocol
- Homes and Communities Agency
- Local Resilience Forum
- English Partnerships
- Housing Corporation
- Housing estate
- Social Exclusion Task Force
- Local Government Association
- Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships (RIEPs)
References
- ↑ Budget 2011 (PDF). London: HM Treasury. 2011. p. 48. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
- ↑ "Our ministers". GOV.UK. Department for Communities and Local Government. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
- ↑ New DCLG Permanent Secretary
- ↑
- ↑ http://www.building.co.uk/news/environmental-report-slams-odpm-over-sustainable-code/3065079.article
- ↑ Knight, Sam (5 May 2006). "Prescott loses his dream home the megadepartment". The Times (London).
- ↑ Cabinet Office List of Ministerial Responsibilities, July 2010
- ↑ Ordnance Survey becomes part of Department for Business Innovation and Skills
- ↑ UK Fire Service College sale completed to Capita
- ↑ National Improvement and Efficiency Strategy
External links
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