What's in a name? There was widespread surprise and some anger in local government to find itself dropped from the title of the newly renamed Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Perhaps we shouldn't get too hung up on this. It's not the first time after all that ‘local government' has failed to feature in the department's name. At the same time it is hard to take it as a ringing endorsement of the centrality of the Government's plans for levelling up.