Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
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. John Denham is the current Secretary of State for Communities and Local government.
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.
Ministers and civil servants
- Secretary of State: The Rt Hon. Hazel Blears, MP
- Minister of State for Local Government: John Healey, MP
- Minister of State for Housing and Planning: The Rt Hon. Caroline Flint, MP (also attends cabinet)
- Parliamentary Under Secretary of State: Iain Wright, MP[2]
- Parliamentary Under Secretary of State: Parmjit Dhanda, MP
- Parliamentary Under Secretary: The Rt Hon. The Baroness Andrews, OBE
The Permanent Secretary is Peter Housden.
Initiatives and involvement
The Department for Communities and Local Govenrment 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.
Preventing Violent Extremism
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.”
Executive Agencies
Notes
- ↑ 10 Downing Street - Department for Communities and Local Government
- ↑ Both Flint and Wright are members of Labour Friends of Israel, which does not suggest a neutral role in dealing with 'muslim' issues.
