MHCLG 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 succeeded David Miliband (cabinet-level Minister of State for Communities and Local Government within the ODPM) to become the first Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 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 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.[7]
On 20 February 2021, it was announced as part of the government's levelling up policy, that MHCLG 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 Wolverhampton by 2025.[8]
On 23 February 2021, the then Secretary of State, Robert Jenrick, announced he was hopeful that staff would be working in Wolverhampton 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, where he previously did work experience.[9]
With the intention to relocate some 500 members of staff to Wolverhampton, Robert Jenrick officially opened its new Wolverhampton offices at the 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 Ian Brookfield and the West Midlands Mayor, Andy Street.[10]
Michael Gove was reappointed as the secretary of state by the prime minister Rishi Sunak on 25 October 2022.
Following the Labour Party's victory at the 2024 General Election, Angela Rayner was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on 5 July 2024. The department reverted to its former name, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on 8 July 2024.[11]
The Levelling Up Taskforce was formed in September 2021 headed by former Bank of England Chief Economist Andy Haldane.[12] The Levelling Up policy was not initially defined in detail,[13] but would include:[14][15]
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
The Office for Local Government ("Oflog"), established in 2023, is an office within the department responsible for providing "authoritative and accessible data and analysis about the performance of local government, and support[ing] its improvement".[18]
Digitising planning
MHCLG teams have been actively supporting digitisation of town planning processes as part of the Levelling Up Mission. Under the "Proptech innovation fund", MHCLG has been funding four rounds of digitisation initiatives within various local councils in England.[citation needed]
In January 2007, Ruth Kelly announced proposals to bring together the delivery functions of the Housing Corporation, English Partnerships 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. In 2008 the department along with the Local Government Association produced the National Improvement and Efficiency Strategy[21] 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.