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Gove renames MHCLG to include levelling-up agenda
New communities secretary Michael Gove has renamed the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to include his cross-government remit to implement the new ‘levelling-up’ agenda.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) will, according to the government, help deliver on the mission to “level up every part of the UK”. Andy Haldane, the former chief economist at the Bank of England, has been appointed as the head of a new levelling-up taskforce.
Mr Gove, as secretary of state for levelling up, will “drive cross-Whitehall efforts to deliver a programme of tangible improvements in every part of the UK as we build back better from the pandemic, and deliver on the people’s priorities”.
The cabinet secretary will have responsibility for UK governance and elections. He will therefore also take on the title of minister of intergovernmental relations, working closely with the territorial offices (the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland, Office of the Secretary of State for Wales and the Northern Ireland Office) and leading coordination with the devolved administrations on the prime minister’s behalf.
At DLUHC, he will be supported by new minister of state Kemi Badenoch MP and Neil O’Brien MP, who has been appointed parliamentary under-secretary of state.
Reappointed to the department are housing minister Christopher Pincher and building safety minister Lord Greenhalgh, as well as parliamentary under-secretary Eddie Hughes.
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The department last changed its name only three years ago, from the Department of Communities and Local Government to MHCLG.
Last year, the department unveiled plans to open a second headquarters in Wolverhampton.
Mr Haldane will join as a permanent secretary in the Cabinet Office on secondment from the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) for six months.
He will head the levelling-up taskforce that will report jointly to the prime minister and Mr Gove.
Prime minister 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.
“Andy is uniquely qualified to lead our efforts to raise living standards, spread opportunity, improve our public services and restore people’s sense of pride in their communities.
“I look forward to working with him, and with my new ministerial team, to deliver the opportunities this country needs.”
Mr Gove said: “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.”
