Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government

The secretary of state for housing, communities, and local government, also referred to as the communities secretary, is a Cabinet position heading the UK's Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, previously known as the Department for Communities and Local Government from 2006 to 2018.
This department was created in 2006 by then British prime minister Tony Blair to replace John Prescott's Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which had taken on the local government and regions portfolios from the defunct Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions in 2002.
The secretary of state took over the responsibilities of the minister of state for communities and local government. This post, within the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, was created in 2005, on the transfer of several functions from the deputy prime minister himself.
Responsibilities.
As well as general responsibilities within the department's remit, the secretary of state has the power to determine "called in" planning applications and "recovered" appeals in England.