The
Secretary of State for the Environment was a UK cabinet position, responsible for the
Department of the Environment (DoE). This was created by
Edward Heath as a combination of the
Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the
Ministry of Transport and the
Ministry of Public Building and Works on 15 October 1970. Thus it managed a mixed portfolio of issues: housing and planning, local government, public buildings, environmental protection and, initially, transport -
James Callaghan gave transport its own department again in 1976. It has been asserted that during the Thatcher government the DoE led the drive towards centralism, and the undermining of local government. Particularly, the concept of 'inner cities policy', often involving centrally negotiated
public-private partnerships and centrally appointed
development corporations, which moved control of many urban areas to the centre, and away from their, often left-wing, local authorities.