Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The secretary of state for housing, communities and local government is a senior minister in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. As a Cabinet-level position, the office holder is responsible for housing, planning, and local government policy in England.
The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow secretary of state for housing, communities and local government.
History
The Department for Communities and Local Government was created in 2006 by then British prime minister Tony Blair to replace John Prescott's Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which had taken on the local government and regions portfolios from the defunct Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions in 2002.The secretary of state took over the responsibilities of the minister of state for communities and local government. This post, within the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, was created in 2005, on the transfer of several functions from the deputy prime minister himself.
Then prime minister Boris Johnson renamed the position Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and gave the secretary and the department responsibility for carrying out the promise in the 2019 Conservative Party manifesto of "levelling up". Labour prime minister Keir Starmer renamed the department as the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on 8 July 2024, retiring the levelling up moniker.
Responsibilities
According to the UK government, the secretary of state has overall strategic oversight of the department’s business and policy in areas including:- housing and planning
- local government and English devolution
- regional and local growth
- communities and faith
- democracy and elections
- public appointments
- planning casework
- corporate functions
List of secretaries of state
Secretary of State for Local Government and the Regions
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Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
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Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
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Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
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Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
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