Department for Education and Skills
The fundamental aims of the Department are to maintain a well-educated and highly skilled workforce and to give everyone the opportunity to realise their full potential.
Contact information
- Address: Sanctuary Buildings,
Great Smith Street,
London,
SW1P 3BT
- Website: www.dfes.gov.uk
- Telephone: 0870 000 2288
Parliamentary Branch
Ministerial Correspondence Unit
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Ministers
Alan Johnson
Secretary of State for Education and Skills: The Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP
Responsibilities
Has overall responsibility for:
- The Department, its policies and strategy
- Finance and public expenditure
- Economic issues
- Major appointments
Private Office to Alan Johnson
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Jim Knight
Minister of State (Schools and 14-19 Learners): Jim Knight MP
Responsibilities
Takes an overview of all schools strategy with, a particular focus on: transforming secondary schools; behaviour; 14-19 learners; school funding and capital including Building Schools for the Future; remodelling the school workforce; and raising standards across the board. His specific responsibilities are:
Transforming secondary education
- School structures, diversity choice and contestability, rural schools
- School recurrent funding and capital (BSF, PPP/PFI)
- Personalisation – tailoring, catch-up and stretch
- OFSTED, school improvement, intervention and the ‘New Relationship with Schools’
- Admissions, school organisation and school governance
- Parental choice and parental engagement in schools (working with Parmjit Dhanda on the overall Parenting Strategy)
- Key stage 3 and 4 strategy
- Behaviour, discipline and attendance, including bullying
- Pupil Referral Units and Learner Support Units
Remodelling the school workforce
- Teacher workload, workforce agreement and support staff
- Teachers’ pay, performance management and conditions
- Teacher recruitment, retention, training and Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
- National College for School Leadership, Training and Development Agency and General Teaching Council
- Teachers Misconduct
Education and learning for all 14-19s
- Implementation of the 14-19 White Paper (with Phil Hope)
- School 6th forms, Strategic Area Reviews and 16-19 reorganisations
Other specific responsibilities:
- Overall policy on National Curriculum testing and assessment including liaison with QCA
- Overall school funding and funding formula
- Local Authority funding (working with Beverley Hughes)
- ICT in schools (working with Phil Hope), the digital curriculum, Teachers TV, relations with BBC
- PE and School Sport, relationship with the Youth Sport Trust (YST)
- Playing Fields
- DfES contribution to the Olympics
Private Office to Jim Knight
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Bill Rammell
Minister of State (Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education): Bill Rammell MP
Responsibilities
Takes an overview of HE, FE, international relations, adult skills, the Learning and Skills Council and lifelong learning ensuring the overall coherence of all post-19 policy. He will take a direct lead on Higher Education issues and the reform of further Education including the FE Bill and implementation of the FE White Paper on which Phil Hope will support him. Bill Rammell will also lead on the LSC, its budget and operational performance. His specific areas of responsibility are:
Higher Education:
- Standards in the Learning and Skills sector
- Widening participation in HE
- Student finance and the Student Loans Company
- Quality assurance in HE
- Research and innovation in HE (including review of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE))
- Part-time learners
- HEFCE
- PMI 2
- Endowments
- Employer engagement in HEC to include foundation degrees, HE Train to Gain and compressed degrees
- Review of T Funding
Learning and Skills Council funding, operations and performance
Further Education (supported by Phil Hope):
- Overall reform strategy, FE Bill and Implementation of the FE White Paper
- Success for All/Priorities for Success
- Revenue and capital funding
- FE corporations and governance
- Pay and workforce in the HE and FE sectors
- All student support post 19
- Quality and Inspection post 19
Other specific responsibilities:
- International Relations and Strategy
- Science and Technology policy post 16
- Community Cohesion
- Departmental efficiency and effectiveness
- Value for money
- Reducing Bureaucracy
- Thames Gateway FE/HE Action Group
Private Office to Bill Rammell
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Beverley Hughes
Minister of State (Children, Young People and Families): The Rt Hon Beverley Hughes MP
Responsibilities
Has overarching responsibility for children, young people and families policy and the Every Child Matters programme, including leading work across government and working closely with the new Social Exclusion Ministers. She will chair the departmental safeguarding board and maintain an overview of all areas.
Every Child Matters: strategy, change and performance
- Local Government policy and Children’s Trusts
- ECM Deep Dives (and Cabinet Office review of ECM/Schools)
- Inspection and Intervention
- Government offices and field forces
- Commissioning and Market Development
- Knowledge for Improvement
- DfES/HMT Thematic Review of Children’s Services
- Finance
Sure Start, Early Years and Childcare
- Delivery of the 10 year Childcare strategy:
- Extended Schools
- Children’s Centres
- Childcare Bill
- Early Learning and Development
- Childcare Market Development
Youth Matters Strategy – policy development and implementation (including YOC)
Integrated and targeted support
- “Respect” (including National Parenting Academy and respect parenting work)
- Teenage Pregnancy strategy/PSA
- Liaison with new Social Exclusion Ministers on teenage pregnancy and in preparation of Looked After Children (LAC) Green Paper
Chair of Departmental Safeguarding Board
- Oversight of safeguarding issues and lead on response to serious case reviews and critical child protection incidents
Delivery of Looked After Children Green Paper
Workforce
- Children’s and early years workforce reform
- Children’s Workforce Development Council
- Common Assessment Framework and Lead Professional
- Information Sharing Index
Every Child Matters Communications strategy
Private Office to Beverly Hughes
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Parmjit Dhanda
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Children, Young People and Families): Parmjit Dhanda MP
Responsibilities
Parmjit Dhanda has specific responsibilities on which he will report to the Secretary of State. These will include 3 PSA targets; a new strategic responsibility for DfES interests in children’s health; a new lead responsibility for the Department’s parenting strategy and the lead on the DfES interest in the HMT Third Sector Review and in the Voluntary and Community Sector more generally. He will also be the department’s lead on sustainability.
Parent’s strategy
- Parenting strategy – policy development
- Parents Direct
- Parenting fund
- Leading joint work to secure coherence in, and drive forward, the Department’s policies in relation to parents
- Chairing regular trilateral meetings with Jim Knight (covering schools, choice advice and Parental Support Advisers) and Beverley Hughes (covering Respect initiatives)
Children’s Views and Interests/Children and Youth Board
Voluntary and Community Sector
- Policy development and cross government strategy
- HMT Third Sector Review
- VCS grants programme
Health Strategy
- School meals and Healthy Schools
- Specific responsibility for overseeing and bringing together work on health related issues, ie, obesity, Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), sport, healthy schools, school meals, PSHE, drug and alcohol education etc (working with Jim Knight, Lord Adonis and Beverley Hughes)
Sustainability and Environmental issues
Safeguarding
- Making Safeguarding Everyone’s Business
- Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Bill
- Implementation of Vetting and Barring Scheme (incl Singleton Panel and safeguarding operations)
- Looked After Children policy and delivery
- LAC PSA target
- Adoption policy (and Children (Contact) and Adoption Bill)
- Links to Social Exclusion Ministers on LAC
- LAC PSA target
- Adoption policy (and Children (Contact) and Adoption Bill)
- Links to Social Exclusion Ministers on LAC
- Options for Excellence
- Domestic Violence
- Young carers
- Asylum seeking children
- CAFCASS and private family law
Youth Policy
- NEETs (young people not in education, employment or training) PSA
- Substance abuse/drugs PSA
- Youth justice (incl young offender learning and employment with the Home Office)
- Young People’s Information, Advice and Guidance/Connexions Performance, funding and transition
Private Office to Parmjit Dhanda
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Phil Hope
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Skills): Phil Hope MP
Responsibilities
Has a specific focus on adult skills and vocational education. He will also support Bill Rammell on the reform of FE. His specific areas of responsibility are:
Adult Skills
- Skills strategy
- The Leitch Review of Skills
- Sector Skills Councils, Sector Skills Agreements and Sector Skills Development Agency
- Rollout of the Train to Gain
- Skills Academies
- Skills for Life
- Personal and Community Development Learning
- Employer Engagement and Business Relations
- Skills Competitions including WorldSkills 2011 in London
- Union Learning fund/Union Learning Representatives and the Union Academy
- Adult information, advice and guidance and development of Learn Direct/University for Industry (UFI)
- Investors in People
Education and Learning for all 14-19s (with Jim Knight)
- Development of specialised diplomas
- Work-related learning for 14-19s including Entry to Employment
- Apprenticeships
- Enterprise Education and Education Business Links
Other specific responsibilities
- FE reform (supporting Bill Rammell)
- Regional Skills Policy and RDAs
- Offender Learning and Skills
- ICT and e-strategy (working with Jim Knight on ICT in schools specifically)
Private Office to Phil Hope
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Lord Adonis
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Schools): The Lord Adonis
Responsibilities
Has a particular focus on Primary schools, the school curriculum and Special Educational Needs (SEN) and the delivery of the Academies and Trust programme and the London Challenge. His specific responsibilities are:
Raising standards in Primary Schools
- National Strategies
- Primary school curriculum
- Class sizes
The School Curriculum
- History, Geography, English, Maths, RE, Sex Education, Citizenship, Modern Foreign Languages, PSHE (working with Parmjit Dhanda) and Playing for Success. Drug and alcohol education (working with Parmjit Dhanda), Music and art across all the education and skills sectors, including the Music and Dance scheme. Education outside the classroom.
Other specific responsibilities
- Specialist Schools and the relationship with the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT)
- Delivery of the Academies programme and Trust Schools
- Excellence in Cities and Delivery of London Challenge including admissions in London
- SEN and disability
- Independent Schools
- Operation of the performance tables (supporting Jim Knight)
- School trips
- Gifted and Talented (supporting Jim Knight)
- Pupil health and safety
- School transport
- Freedom of Information
- Teachers’ pensions
- Equality issues including race and ethnic minorities in education (working with Parmjit Dhanda)
In addition, Lord Adonis handles all Departmental business in the Lords, including DfES legislation.
Private Office to Lord Adonis
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Private Office
Private Office to Alan Johnson
Private Office to Jim Knight
Private Office to Bill Rammell
Private Office to Beverley Hughes
Private Office to Parmjit Dhanda
Private Office to Phil Hope
Private Office to Lord Adonis
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Spokesperson
