'Levelling up' phrase to be erased, says minister

The new Labour government is replacing the words "levelling up" with "local government" in the department's name and ministerial titles, minister Jim McMahon has said.

Levelling up - a promise to reduce geographical inequality - was a key part of Boris Johnson's successful 2019 general election campaign.

When he came into power he changed the name of the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government, replacing "local government" with "levelling up".

However, Mr McMahon told BBC Breakfast the phrase was "only ever a slogan" and was now being "firmly Tippex-ed out of the department".

"We are now the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government," he said.

"It is a reshaping of the department. It is a refocus, but frankly it is also just grown up politics."

A Conservative spokesperson said the levelling up agenda had been "transformative for towns across the country, giving communities that Labour took for granted when they were last in office the investment they deserve.

"Labour’s decision to scrap levelling up will be a disaster for these towns, and their refusal to rule out clawing back £1bn of Conservative funding from local communities for Labour politicians to spend in Westminster puts the future of our communities at risk.”

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson accused Labour of "a lack of ambition and a failure to believe in this country’s potential".

Mr McMahon said the British public had "had enough of politicians making promises that don't follow through and don't make a material difference".

Mr McMahon, who was previously the leader of Oldham Council, said he was pleased the words local government were being added back to the department name saying people valued local government and "know it needs far more focus and attention".

Shortly after his interview, Angela Rayner, now head of the rebranded department, confirmed the change in a social media post saying: "No more gimmicks and slogans, but the hard yards of governing in the national interest.

"The department I lead will be the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government."

The ditching of the levelling up phrase was welcomed by Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, who was in Downing Street for a meeting with all the mayors in England.

He told the BBC it had too often felt like a mantra for weakening the capital at the expense of the rest of the country.

The name-change also got the thumbs-up from former Conservative minister Sajid Javid who ran the department from 2016 to 2018.

He said: "Whether housing, social care or community cohesion, local government has a big role to play in tackling policy challenges.

"A small change, but a welcome signal of intent."

The phrase may be gone, but the general direction of travel which underpinned levelling up - more devolution, more mayors with more powers, trying to find ways to improve ‘left behind’ areas - has recently been an area of cross-party consensus. It is likely to continue under the new government.

Setting out the aims of the levelling up policy in 2022, then government minister Michael Gove said that: "For far too long, the United Kingdom - England in particular - has had an economic powerhouse in London and the south east but not everyone has shared in that success."

He said the Brexit referendum in 2016 had been "a wake-up call" from overlooked and undervalued communities giving the government a "clear instruction" to change the country's economic model.

Under the last government, the Levelling Up Fund was set up to distribute nearly £5bn to "shovel-ready" projects.

The North West of England received the most money overall, followed by Yorkshire and the Humber. In terms of funding per head of the population, Wales came out on top.

Under the fund, money was awarded to schemes aimed at boosting regeneration. Successful bids included Twycross Zoo in Bosworth, a swimming pool in Halifax and Rotherham town centre.

The fund attracted some criticism including from then-Conservative West Midlands Mayor Andy Street who said it was part of Whitehall's "broken begging bowl culture" and the money should be allocated by local-decision makers rather than civil servants in London.

Other parts of the levelling up policy included a drive to move civil servants outside of London and setting up freeports - areas exempt from some taxes - in areas including Teesside, Hull and Portsmouth.