Updated 18 August 2009

Dept for Communities and Local Government 

• the Government department ultimately responsible for most of the matters of concern to ANTAS. The successor to the old DETR and ODPM.  The Government Offices for the Regions come under the Cabinet Office.

Dept of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)

• responsible for dealing with listed building applications and policy, on which they are assisted by English Heritage.

Dept of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

• the successor to MAFF, which also acquired the old DETR's Environment Protection Group and Wildlife and Countryside Directorate.

If you need to find any other Government Department on the web - or indeed any other public body, try the Open Government website www.open.gov.uk.

Government Office for the East of England (GO-East)

Government Office for the South-East (GO-SE)

• Each of the Government Offices for the Regions is an arm of central government in its region, see the Government's national site for the Government Office Network. The Government Offices are involved in various ways with the Planning Processes within their regions, e.g. in making recommendations to, or acting in the name of, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in respect of planning appeals. 

East of England Development Agency (EEDA)

South-East of England Development Agency (SEEDA)

• The Regional Development Agencies were created by the Government to be the driving force behind sustainable development and economic growth in the regions.

East of England Regional Assembly and South East England Regional Assembly

• Regional assemblies exist in all the regions of England - even though a referendum to directly elect the members of the North-East Regional Assembly was rejected by the electorate some years ago.  On the Regional Assembly websites you can find out about the regional plans, the East of England Plan and the South East Plan.  The South-East England Regional Assembly has now been dissolved and its role in preparing regional strategies has now been dissolved, and its regional planning role now rests with the South-East England Partnership Board.