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Rayner scraps levelling up ‘gimmick’ in department rebrand
Housing secretary Angela Rayner has scrapped the “levelling up” title from her government department, saying “no more government by gimmick”.
Ms Rayner said that the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, named by Boris Johnson in 2021, would revert to its previous title, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Speaking at a department meeting on Monday 8 July, Ms Rayner told her officials: “A government of public service means fixing the fundamentals, rebuilding the foundations and getting the basics right to deliver for the British people.
“No more gimmicks, no more slogans, but the hard yards of governing in the national interest.”
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Ms Rayner, who is also deputy prime minister under Sir Keir Starmer, continued: “The work of my department is central to our mission-driven government.
“From fixing the foundation of an affordable home, to handing power back to communities with skin in the game and rebuilding local government – this will be the department of service.
“We will go back to basics. No more government by gimmick. No more stunts and spin. Our department should do what it says on the tin.”
Despite the rebrand, Ms Rayner acknowledged that Boris Johnson’s government was right to focus on addressing regional inequality.
“When they announced levelling up, the last government may not have had the right solutions but they were right about the problem,” she said. “Because our country is too unequal, and it holds us all back. This government has a mission to tackle that.”
Ms Rayner also repeated Labour’s election manifesto pledges on housing, including delivering change for “young couples priced of out owning their own home, for leaseholders left at the mercy of eye-watering charges, and for those trapped in buildings still wrapped in dangerous cladding.
She added: “We will deliver change for families facing eviction through no fault of their own, for renters living in damp, cold and mouldy homes, for people living on the streets with nowhere to call home.”
“On communities, we will deliver change for our regions left behind by the sham of levelling up, held back by a government unwilling to match their ambition. We have a plan to power up Britain, delivering growth in every corner of the country, with a Take Back Control Act empowering mayors and giving people control over what matters to them.
“And we will rebuild local government, with integrated, long-term funding settlements to local leaders, giving them greater certainty and the ability to plan for the long term. Local government will once again be a service that people can rely on.”
Read Inside Housing’s long read on Angela Rayner for a deeper look at the minister’s background, as well as her views on housing and what they might mean for the sector.
