Politics

Meet the ministers: Portfolios of Starmer’s DfE lineup confirmed

Who is doing what at the DfE under the Labour government

Who is doing what at the DfE under the Labour government

23 Jul 2024, 20:19

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The new government has finally confirmed which ministers are responsible for what at the Department for Education, nearly three weeks after Labour won the general election.

The draft set of portfolios was first revealed by Schools Week earlier this month.

As reported, Catherine McKinnell is schools minister with an expanded brief also covering SEND and AP.

Stephen Morgan is minister for early education, with a raft of schools policies also included in his brief.

Janet Daby is minister for children and families, with a brief more focused on children’s social care and less on education than the role under the Conservative government.

Baroness Jacqui Smith, the former home secretary and schools minister, is minister for skills and will lead all the DfE’s work in the House of Lords.

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson holds cabinet-level responsibility for the women and equalities brief, with Anneliese Dodds also serving as minister for the portfolio. She is also a minister at the Foreign Office.

Bridget Phillipson, secretary of state for education

  • early years and childcare
  • children’s social care
  • teacher quality, recruitment and retention
  • the school curriculum
  • school improvement
  • academies and free schools
  • further education
  • apprenticeships and skills
  • higher education

Catherine McKinnell, minister for school standards

  • School improvement, intervention and inspection
  • Teacher training, retention, pay and pensions
  • School leadership and governance
  • Core school funding
  • Qualifications, curriculum and assessment
  • SEND and high needs
  • Alternative provision
  • Admissions
  • Pupil premium
  • School uniform and transport
  • Faith schools
  • Access to sport, music and arts in education

Stephen Morgan, minister for early education

  • Early years education including children with SEND
  • Early years workforce
  • Breakfast clubs
  • School food, including free school meals
  • Independent schools
  • Education estate
  • Environmental sustainability in education sectors
  • Safeguarding, online safety and serious violence prevention in schools and post-16
  • Counter extremism in schools and post-16
  • Use of AI and data in education

Janet Daby, minister for children and families

  • Children’s social care
  • Children in care and children in need
  • Looked-after children
  • Child protection
  • Adoption, kinship care and foster care
  • Care leavers
  • Children’s social care workforce
  • Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children
  • Local authority improvement
  • Family hubs
  • Families support and parenting

Baroness Smith of Malvern, minister for skills

  • Skills England
  • Technical qualifications, including T Levels
  • Higher technical education
  • Adult education and devolution
  • Careers advice and support for young NEETS
  • Apprenticeships, including the growth and skills levy
  • Technical excellence colleges
  • Local skills improvement plans
  • Governance, intervention and accountability of FE colleges
  • Education funding, provision and outcomes for 16-19 year olds
  • FE funding, including financial stability and workforce
  • Access to higher education, participation and lifelong learning
  • Quality of higher education and student experience (including OfS)
  • Student finance (including Student Loans Company)
  • International education

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