Department for Communities and Local Government

Department for Communities and
Local Government

Department overview
Formed	May 2006
Jurisdiction	England
Headquarters	Eland House, London, England
Annual budget	£28.1 billion (current) & £3.5 billion (capital) for 2011-12
Minister responsible	The Rt Hon. Eric Pickles MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
Website	www.gov.uk/dclg

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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 Eland House, 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:

Minister		Rank	Portfolio
	The Rt Hon Eric Pickles, MP	Secretary of State	Overall strategic direction of the Department. Main areas of responsibility include: Supporting local government; Communities and neighbourhoods; Local economic growth; Housing; Planning and building; Fire. The 6 August 2014 he also took over as Minister for Faith, since The Rt Hon Baroness Warsi (PC) had resigned from the Government on 5 August 2014,
	Brandon Lewis, MP	Minister of State	Housing; Planning and development; Ebbsfleet development; Traveller policy
	Stephen Williams, MP	Parliamentary Under Secretary of State	Integration and Race Equality; Localism, Decentralisation and Community Rights; Building Regulations and Standards; Empty Homes; Climate Change and Sustainable Development
	Kris Hopkins, MP	Parliamentary Under Secretary of State	Local government; Adult social care; Homelessness; Planning policy and casework in relation to wind farms and solar; Community pubs
	Penny Mordaunt, MP	Parliamentary Under Secretary of State	Coastal communities; Local growth; High streets, town centres and markets; Enterprise zones; Planning casework (supporting Brandon Lewis); Fire, resilience and emergencies
	Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon	Parliamentary Under Secretary of State	Departmental business in the House of Lords; Productivity, procurement and value for money; European programmes; transparency; Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre

Key		Conservative
		Liberal Democrat

The Baroness Warsi worked jointly between this department and the Foreign Office.

The Permanent Secretary is Sir Bob Kerslake who took up his post on 1 November 2010.

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. 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

Eland House, the department's headquarters

The department is responsible for UK Government policy in the following areas, mainly in England:

• 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

• Planning Inspectorate
• Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre

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 and on 28 February 2013 the Fire Service College was sold to Capita.

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 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, civil resilience, fire services)
• Department of Strategic Planning, Finance and Performance (community cohesion, race relations)
• Department of Environment & Sustainable Development (planning)
• Department of Housing, Regeneration & Heritage (housing, urban regeneration)

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)

External links

• Official website
• Local Government Channel
• Communities UK YouTube channel