Permanent secretary Jeremy Pocklington will leave the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) amid a series of Whitehall changes.

A DLUHC spokesperson today confirmed that Mr Pocklington will join the reconfigured Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in what amounts to a job swap with fellow permanent secretary Sarah Healey.

Mr Pocklington joined DLUHC in March 2020 and has overseen Whitehall's high-profile levelling up agenda, as well as the department's continued response to the 2017 Grenfell Tower tragedy and associated housing sector reforms.

Ms Healey previously served at the Prime Minister's strategy unit within the Cabinet Office, as director of strategy and performance at the Department for Education and at the short-lived Department for Exiting the European Union.

A new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, has also been created – tasked with securing the UK’s long-term energy supply, bringing down household bills and helping the Government meet its target of halving inflation this year.

Former housing minister Grant Shapps will lead the department.

No10 has also announced that a new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has been created to ‘drive innovation that will deliver improved public services, create new and better-paid jobs and grow the economy’.

Former culture secretary Michelle Donelan will oversee the department.

Housing minister Lucy Frazer has become secretary of state at the ‘refocused’ DCMS, which has lost its digital remit to DSIT. 

She will be replaced by former justice minister Rachel Maclean.

Former local government minister Kemi Badenoch is the new secretary of state at the re-combined Department for Business and Trade, which has been charged with supporting growth by backing British businesses at home and abroad.

The new department looks similar to the former Department for Trade and Industry.

Confirming the machinery of Government reforms, a No10 statement read: ‘The changes will ensure the right skills and teams are focussed on the Prime Minister’s five promises: to halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut waiting lists and stop the boats.’

This article was originally published by The MJ (£).