Communities and Local Government - Non-departmental Public Bodies

Non-departmental Public Bodies

In January 2007, Ruth Kelly announced proposals to bring together the delivery functions of the Housing Corporation, English Partnerships and parts of the Department for Communities and Local Government to form a new unified housing and regeneration agency, the Homes and Communities Agency. Initially announced as Communities England, it became operational in December 2008. This also includes the Academy for Sustainable Communities. 2008 was also the year that the department along with the Local Government Association produced the National Improvement and Efficiency Strategy which led to the creation of 9 Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships (RIEPs) with devolved funding of £185m to drive sector led improvement for councils.