Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC)

In July 2024 the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) was renamed back to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) as it had been called prior to September 2021. September 2021, had seen the MHCLG being renamed and becoming the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities DLUHC. See also Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

At the time of reverting the name from DLUHC back to MHCLG in 2024, Minister McMahon told BBC Breakfast the phrase was "only ever a slogan" and was now being "firmly Tippex-ed out of the department". "We are now the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government," he said. "It is a reshaping of the department. It is a refocus, but frankly it is also just grown up politics."

In response a Conservative spokesperson said the levelling up agenda had been "transformative for towns across the country, giving communities that Labour took for granted when they were last in office the investment they deserve. "Labour’s decision to scrap levelling up will be a disaster for these towns, and their refusal to rule out clawing back £1bn of Conservative funding from local communities for Labour politicians to spend in Westminster puts the future of our communities at risk." The former Prime Minister Boris Johnson also accused Labour of "a lack of ambition and a failure to believe in this country’s potential".

[edit] Background to name change

On 2 February 2022 DLUHC published the Government’s Levelling Up White Paper, which included 12 national missions to be achieved by 2030 to be followed up through a Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. Ref https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-unveils-levelling-up-plan-that-will-transform-uk

The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Michael Gove MP, said of the original name change back in September 2021 "I’m thrilled that the PM has asked me to lead the Levelling Up agenda, the defining mission of this government. With a superb team of ministers and officials in a new department, our relentless focus will be on delivering for those overlooked families and undervalued communities across the United Kingdom. We have a unique opportunity to make a real difference to people’s lives."

The September 2021, name change was part of a Cabinet reshuffle, with the government announcing that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) would be renamed the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. The role of 'Housing Secretary' was renamed 'Secretary of State for Levelling Up’, which were said reflect the Conservative Government's central mission to level up every part of the UK.

The change came as former Bank of England Chief Economist Andy Haldane was appointed as the new Head of the Levelling Up Taskforce, established by the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, at the time. The Secretary of State having responsibility for United Kingdom governance and elections, and therefore also taking on the additional title of Minister for Intergovernmental Relations, working closely with the Territorial Offices and leading coordination with the devolved administrations on the Prime Minister’s behalf. He was supported in the department by Minister of State Kemi Badenoch MP and Neil O’Brien MP, who was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State.

Reappointed to the department are Ministers of State were also the Rt Hon Christopher Pincher MP and Lord Greenhalgh, and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Eddie Hughes MP. The Prime Minister at the time, Boris Johnson said: "This government is committed to uniting and levelling up every part of the UK and I am determined that as we build back better from the pandemic we are geared up with the teams and expertise to deliver on that promise."

Ref https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ambitious-plans-to-drive-levelling-up-agenda

On 2 February 2022 the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities published the Government’s Levelling Up White Paper. This document included12 national missions to be achieved by 2030. There are plans to give them status in law in a Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.

Ref https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-unveils-levelling-up-plan-that-will-transform-uk

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