Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
This article is part of the Counter-Terrorism Portal project of Spinwatch. |
The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government was previously known as the Department for Communities and Local Government[1] (branded as Communities and Local Government and referred to as the DCLG) is the United Kingdom government department for communities and local government since May 2006. The department originated in 2001 as the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Eric Pickles is the current Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, taking over from John Denham MP after the May 2010 election.[2]
Contents
Background
The department was formed in July 2001 as part of the Cabinet Office with the title Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), headed by the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 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. During the 5 May 2006 reshuffle of Blair's government, it was renamed and Ruth Kelly was made the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. The Deputy Prime Minister became a minister without portfolio and his office had purely secretarial functions. Hazel Blears was appointed Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on 28 June 2007. Yvette Cooper used to be employed with this department, but has since got a new job in the Treasury.
In May 2006 a large chunk of the Home Office that used to deal with Muslim issues moved to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). On its creation it also assumed the community policy function of the Home Office and has since established the 'Commission on Integration and Cohesion' and the Commission for Equalities and Human Rights.
People
Ministers
- Robert Jenrick -Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government appointed July 2019 by incoming PM Boris Johnson
- Esther McVey - minister of state appointed July 2019 by incoming PM Boris Johnson
- Jake Berry MP Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for the Northern Powerhouse and Local Growth)
- Luke Hall MP - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State [3]
Former
- James Brokenshire - communities secretary to June 2019
- Alok Sharma Minister of State for Housing and Planning
- Marcus Jones - Parliamentary Under Secretary 2015- present (Minister for Local Government)
- Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Minister for Faith (and Northern Ireland)
- Greg Clark - Secretary of State 2015-16
- Brandon Lewis - Minister of State for Housing and Planning 2014-6/7
- Mark Francois - Minister of State for Portsmouth, Communities and Resilience 2015-
- Sajid Javid Secretary of State July 2016-
- James Wharton - Parliamentary Under Secretary 2015-
- Baroness Williams of Trafford - Parliamentary Under Secretary
- Eric Pickles - Secretary of State 2010-2015 (also minister for faith)
- Brandon Lewis - Minister of State for Housing and Planning from July 2014 until July 2016, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State from September 2012 until July 2014
- Stephen Williams - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
- Kris Hopkins - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
- Penny Mordaunt - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
- Tariq Ahmad - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
- John Denham - Secretary of State 2009-10
- Hazel Blears - Secretary of State 2007-09
- Grant Shapps - Minister of State for Housing and Local Government 2010-2012
- John Healey - Minister of State for Housing and Local Government
- Andrew Stunell OBE MP - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State 2010-2012
- Iain Wright - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State until May 2010
- Bob Neill Parliamentary Under Secretary of State 2010-2012
- Parmjit Dhanda Parliamentary Under Secretary of State until May 2008
- Baroness Hanham Parliamentary Under Secretary 2010-2013
- Kay Andrews Parliamentary Under Secretary until May 2010
Civil servants
The Permanent Secretary was Sir Bob Kerslake (Robert),[4] who took up the post on 1 November 2010 and is also Head of the Home Civil Service.[5] Peter Housden was the previous Permanent Secretary (to October 2010).
- Minister of State for Housing and Planning was: The Rt Hon. Caroline Flint, MP (also attended cabinet)
Former special advisers
- Meg Powell-Chandler - spad to Greg Clark since May 2015-16
- Jacob Wilmer - spad to Greg Clark since November 2014 when he was universities minister
Former
- Sheridan Westlake - spad to Eric Pickles from May 2010 to May 2015. Now working for 10 Downing Street.
- Zoe Thorogood - Was appointed as special adviser in charge of media to Eric Pickles in January 2013. Thorogood was an associate director at Luther Pendragon, which she joined in March 2011. Earlier in her career she was a news editor at GMTV for five years, before joining the Conservative Party as head of broadcasting and lifestyle press in 2008. [6] Left after Pickles was replaced by Clark as secretary of state.
- Adam Pritchard - was appointed special adviser to Stephen Williams in July 2013. Previous roles include, senior policy manager for the Liberal Democrats, parliamentary assistant to Sharon Bowles MEP, parliamentary researcher for Greg Mulholland MP as well as a recruitment consultant at Gilds Associates [7] Left at the 2015 general election after the Lib Dems lost their place in government.
Communications
Former
- George Eykyn. Director comms from 2008-2014, now at British Gas.
Initiatives and involvement
The Department for Communities and Local Government is one of the main players in the devising and implementation of the Prevent strand of the British Counter-Terrorism strategy, Contest 2.
Notable examples include:
- The Preventing Violent Extremism Pathfinder Fund (PVEPF)
- The Research, Information and Communications Unit (RICU) - a strategic communications unit within the UK's Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism (OSCT), based in the Home Office and funded by and answerable to the Foreign Office and the Department for Communities and Local Government.
- National Muslim Women's Advisory Group
Preventing Violent Extremism (Funding by DCLG)
The DCLG has been responsible for the main strand of funding that has been provided to the task of Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE), or Prevent, as it is commonly referred to. In 2007-08, the DCLG funded £6 million for the Preventing Violent Extremism Pathfinder Fund (PVEPF) to support seventy priority local authorities in England to advance a programme that would “tackle violent extremism.”.[8]
In June 2007, the DCLG also distributed £650,000 through the Community Leadership Fund (CLF) that would build the capacity of Muslims to fight extremism and complement the work being undertaken by local authorities under the PVEPF.[9]
On 31 October 2007, Hazel Blears (the then Secretary of State for the DCLG) announced that the DCLG would provide a total of £45 million worth of funding for local partnerships from a period of April 2008 to March 2011.[10] The £45 million announced by Hazel Blears went to: 76 local authorities in 2008-09, 82 local authorities in 2009-10 and will go to 94 local authorities in 2010-11.[11]
In August 2009, a £7.5 million cash injection was authorised by the DCLG to local authorities in order to enhance the struggle against “al-Qaeda influenced extremism” and to “improve effectiveness of the Prevent programme.”[12]
A further £5.1 million is being distributed over the period of 2009-2011 through the CLF programme. [13]
The Challenge and Innovation Fund totalled to £3.2 million and was allocated in May 2009 (for delivery of projects during 2009-10) by the DCLG to local authorities in England to assist them with preventing violent extremism.[14]
Including smaller avenues of funding, the total money that the DCLG will have allocated to Preventing Violent Extremism from April 2007-11 is estimated to be £80 million, of which £61.7 million will have been through local authorities.[15]
Executive Agencies
Working groups
Notes
- ↑ 10 Downing Street - Department for Communities and Local Government
- ↑ The Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP
- ↑ Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government website, last accessed 30 July 2019
- ↑ New Permanent Secretary for Communities and Local Government
- ↑ Sir Bob Kerslake is new Civil Service boss, BBC News
- ↑ John Owens Eric Pickles lines up Zoe Thorogood as special adviser PR Week, 28 January 2013, accessed 6 October 2014
- ↑ Adam Pritchard LinkedIn profile, accessed 6 October 2014
- ↑ 'Preventing Violent Extremism Pathfinder Fund: Guidance Note', DCLG, p. 3 - accessed 17/11/09
- ↑ 'Preventing Violent Extremism: Community Leadership Fund,DCLG, p. 3 - accessed 17/11/09
- ↑ 'The Prevent Strategy: A Guide for Local Partners in England: Stoppin People Becoming Terrorists or Supporting Terrorists and Violent Extremists' (Part 2),HM Government, 3 June 2008, p. 48 - accessed 17/11/09
- ↑ 'Local Authorities Receiving Funding in Support of work to Prevent Violent Extremism, DCLG, Date Unknown - accessed 17/11/09
- ↑ Local Authorities Receive Fresh Cash Injection to Tackle Extremism, DCLG, 28 August 2009 - accessed 17/11/09
- ↑ House of Commons, Hansard Column 878W, DCLG, 23 April 2009 - accessed 17/11/09
- ↑ Challenge and Innovation Fund DCLG, Date Unknown, accessed 17/1109
- ↑ Arun Kundnani,Spooked: How Not to Prevent Violent Extremism October 2009, accessed 17/11/09
- ↑ Why I Quit the Government's Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group, Huffington Post, 30 October 2014, accessed 27 December 2014
