Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
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The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) is the govt department for Housing, Communities & Local Govt in England.
Schemes
Help to Buy
Help to Buy is a govt scheme run jointly by HM Treasury and the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. The scheme is delivered in partnership with the Homes & Communities Agency and UK Asset Resolution. The scheme’s products are available through appointed Help to Buy agents and mortgage lenders who have signed up to the scheme.
Right To Buy
High Profile Groups
Property Consultative Group
The Property Consultative Group took over the work of both the Property Advisory Group and the Property Industry Forum.
- Sept.2003: Members were: Association of British Insurers, British Council for Offices, British Retail Consortium, CoreNet Global UK, House Builders Federation, Law Society, Property Managers Association, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Association of Property Bankers, British Property Federation, Confederation of British Industry, Council of Mortgage Lenders, Investment Property Forum, National Association of Pension Funds, Royal Institute of British Architects.[1]archived Jun.09.2009
- Disbanded ??
DETR Property Advisory Group
- 1975: Committee on Commercial Property Development (CCPD): (the Pilcher Committee), established as an advisory committee.
- 1978: Property Advisory Group (PAG): successor to the CCPD, the Secretary of State of the Environment established the PAG as a Standing Committee, with "a link to the property world, providing access to sources of expertise on property, financial and legal matters". The PAG comprised an unpaid body of eminent practitioners in the property world, drawn mainly from the private sector. Its terms of reference were: "to keep under review changes in the land and property market, advise on matters concerning the development process, and advise the Department generally on property issues".[2]
- 1999: Members: Chairman: Robin Broadhurst, Roger Aldridge, Christopher Bartram, Stuart Beevor, Tom Bloxham, Charles Brocklehurst, Mark Burton; Graham Chase, Roy Dantzic, Christine Emmett, Roger Groom, Wally Kumar, Paul McNamara, Jon Morton-Smith, Nicholas Price, Lesley Punter, J Martin Shaw, Ronald Spinney, David Stathers, Corinne Swain, Lesley Webber, Sir William Wells, Alan White, Hazel Williamson.
- 2002: Members: Robin Broadhurst, Tom Bloxham, Graham Chase, Roy Dantzic, Christine Emmett, Lynn Gilbert, Roger Groom, Simon Kirkham, Wally Kumar, Paul McNamara, Wendy Shillam, Ronald Spinney, David Stathers, Corinne Swain, Lesley Webber, Alan White, Hazel Williamson. Keith Hill
MP announced the formation of a new body, the Property Consultative Group, which took over the work of both the Property Advisory Group and the Property Industry Forum.[3]
Property Industry Forum
The Property Industry Forum is a separate group consisting of some of the main bodies representing funders, landlords, developers, occupiers and the property professions. It meets Ministers 3 times a year, raising matters of concern to the commercial property industry. Unlike the Property Advisory Group, it functions as a lobby group for the commercial property industry. Bodies at present represented on the Forum are the Association of British Insurers, the Association of Property Bankers, the British Council for Offices, the British Property Federation, the British Retail Consortium, the Law Society, and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
Policies
National Planning Policy Framework
The National Planning Policy Framework was originally published by the Department of Communities & Local Government in Mar.2012, consolidating over 24+ previously issued documents called "Planning Policy Statements" and "Planning Policy Guidance Notes" for England.
A revised NPPF was published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government on Jul.24.2018. This was the first revision of the National Planning Policy Framework since 2012. It implements ~85 reforms announced previously through the Housing White Paper, the "Planning for the right homes in the right places" consultation, and the draft revised National Planning Policy Framework consultation. Heavily criticised by environmentalists and local communities. Mar.2012, National Planning Policy Framework
See main article: Planning Policy
Executive Agencies
Planning Inspectorate for England & Wales
PINS has responsibility to make decisions and provide recommendations and advice on a range of land use planning-related issues across England and Wales. PINS deals with planning permission, planning appeals, nationally significant infrastructure projects, examinations of local plans, and other planning-related and specialist casework. See also About.
ToDo: See MindNode
Executive Non-Departmental Public Bodies
Ebbsfleet Development Corporation
ToDo:
Homes England
- Homes England
- Website
- "Homes England" is the new name for the Homes & Communities Agency, effective as of Jan.01.2018.
- logo
Homes England is the non-departmental public body that funds new affordable housing in England. It was founded on Jan.01.2018 to replace the Homes & Communities Agency.
Housing Ombudsman Service
The Housing Ombudsman Service is set up to look at complaints about the housing organisations that are registered with the Service. Our help is free, independent and impartial. We resolve disputes involving the tenants and leaseholders of social landlords (housing associations and local authorities) and our voluntary members (private landlords and letting agents who are committed to good service for their tenants). See also What We Do, About.
Leasehold Advisory Service
LEASE was set up in 1994 to provide free information, initial advice and guidance to members of the public about residential leasehold and park homes law. LEASE is managed by a Board of individuals representing the principal interests in the leasehold system – the leasehold tenants, the landlords, the lenders, solicitors and surveyors, under an independent Chairman.
Valuation Tribunal Service
ToDo:
Advisory Non-Departmental Public Bodies
ToDo: See MindNode
Tribunal Non-Departmental Public Bodies
ToDo: See MindNode
Public Corporations
ToDo: See MindNode
Other Bodies
Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) looks at complaints about councils and some other authorities and organisations, including education admissions appeal panels, and adult social care providers such as care homes and home care providers. The service is free, independent and impartial. ref,ref
The LGSCO is the final stage for complaints about councils, all adult social care providers (including care homes and home care agencies) and some other organisations providing local public services.
Articles
- Sept.27.2018: £40k spent hiding how rarely northern powerhouse minister visited north. Govt spent two years trying to conceal how infrequently James Wharton travelled to north of England. In Feb.2016 the Guardian submitted an FoI request to the Department for Communities & Local Government asking how regularly James Wharton, who had then been Northern Powerhouse minister for just over 6 months, travelled outside London. The Department flouted a requirement to respond to the request within 20 working days and did not provide a response for more than 4 months – at which point it denied the application. The Information Commissioner’s Office then undertook an investigation, during the course of which it found that the department adopted “what appears to have been a strategy of wilful procrastination in order to obstruct a request for information”. The DCLG appealed against the decision to the first-tier tribunal of information rights, where in early 2018 Judge Hazel Oliver ruled that the department must hand over Wharton’s diary. From start to finish, the process took 26 months. The Department fought for so long to prevent the release of the information that two other men, Andrew Percy and Jake Berry, have since taken up the role of Northern Powerhouse minister, and the entire department has been renamed as the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. However, internal communications revealed by subsequent Guardian FoI requests show that despite spending £40,000 trying to stymie the release of information, the government knew as early as March 2016 it had little chance of preventing the information being made public. The information that the govt tried to suppress for two years shows that Wharton rarely left London as part of his role as the north’s representative in govt. Chris Stokel-Walker, The Guardian.
- Oct.24.2017: Ten scandals since 2010 that show Britain is ruled by the loony right. As communities secretary, Eric Pickles set to work wrecking local authorities, even dismantling the Audit Commission – which Margaret Thatcher had devised to monitor and improve councils. Polly Toynbee, ExecReview.
- Aug.13.2010: Audit watchdog axed by Pickles in austerity drive. The Audit Commission, the independent spending watchdog tasked with scrutinising local govt, became the highest-profile victim of the govt's austerity drive tonight as Eric Pickles, Communities secretary, announced that he was scrapping it. The Commission, which costs £200m a year to run and which was key to uncovering the scandal at Shirley Porter's Westminster council in the 1980s, had the job of overseeing how local govt and the NHS in England spends £200bn. Pickles explained he was closing the watchdog down on account of a decade of "shocking excess". Dai Hudd, deputy general secretary of the Prospect union which represents 1,350 of the Audit Commission's workers, described it as a "bolt from the blue". Govt sources say they were exasperated by the body when it refused to allow all of its expenses over £500 to be published as part of Pickles's transparency drive. An aide to Pickles said staff would be encouraged to set up a company themselves in the mould of the John Lewis Partnership – in which employees own a share of the firm – to bid for some of the commission's contracts. Pickles said the commission's responsibilities for inspecting local govt would pass to the National Audit Office but private companies would now be invited to bid to carry out audits in order to drive down costs. Allegra Stratton, Damien Pearse, The Guardian.
- Note: check what KMPG etc are costing the govt in audit fees compared to the Audit Commission (see W'pedia article re figures here)
Timeline
<tr id="PSTN"> <tr id="TSA+HCS"> <tr id="DCLG"> <tr id="ODPM">| Jan.2018 Conservatives (May) | MHCLG: Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG): the DCLG was renamed to add "Housing" to its title, as part of Theresa May's Cabinet Reshuffle. Homes England was established to replace the Homes & Communities Agency, with two distinct corporate identities. The non-regulation arm trades as "Homes England"; the regulation arm is called the "Regulator of Social Housing".[4] |
| Mar.2013 Cons/LibDem (Cameron/Clegg) | PSTN: The Public Service Transformation Network was announced by Brandon Lewis, as a new multi-agency network to help transform public services at a local level. The Network would be comprised of people with experience and expertise from across govt departments, including HM Treasury, the Cabinet Office, Dept for Communities and Local Government, Dept of Health, Ministry of Justice, Home Office, Dept for Work and Pensions, councils and local agencies, as well as employees from the NHS and other public bodies.[5] |
| Apr.2012 Cons/LibDem (Cameron/Clegg) | The Tenant Services Authority was closed; the Homes & Communities Agency took over responsibility for the regulation of social housing, by then covering housing associations, local authority housing, housing cooperatives, and arms-length management organisations (round and round the mulberry bush). |
| Dec.2008 Labour (Brown) | TSA+HCS: The Tenant Services Authority and the Homes & Communities Agency were set up. The Housing Corporation was disbanded, with its regulatory powers being transferred to the new Tenant Services Authority; and its investment responsibilities to the (new) Homes & Communities Agency. |
| May.2006 Labour (Blair) | DCLG: the Department of Communities & Local Government was established as the successor to the ODPM, during a reshuffle of Tony Blair's govt. Ruth Kelly succeeded David Miliband to become the first Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. |
| May.2002 Labour (Blair) | The ODPM became a separate department after absorbing the local govt and regions portfolios from the defunct Department for Transport, Local Government & 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] |
| Jul.2001 Labour (Blair) | ODPM: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was established as part of the Cabinet Office, headed by then Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. |
| Jul.1964 Conservatives | HC: The Housing Corporation was established to fund new affordable housing and regulate housing associations in England. |
References
- ^ Property Consultative Group. National Archives.
- ^ Property Advisory Group: Annual Report 1999. Property Advisory Group, "Background and Terms of Reference", National Archives. Accessed Apr.12.2018.
- ^ Property Advisory Group: Annual Report 2002-03. National Archives. Accessed Apr.12.2018.
- ^ About the Regulator of Social Housing. Guidance, Gov.uk. Accessed Aug.23.2018.
- ^ Public Service Transformation Network Website. The National Archives. Accessed Aug.08.2018.
