Stephen Morgan who has taken on the early years and childcare brief has been given the job title of minister for early education.
The new minister has already visited early years settings, including a London Early Years Foundation nursery.
Morgan’s wide-ranging brief also includes responsibility for children with special educational needs, childcare and the home learning environment, the early years workforce, early communication skills and early intervention.
He is also responsible for some aspects of schools’ provision, including breakfast clubs, free school meals, mental health support, and safeguarding and online safety.
The other ministerial roles in the DfE are:
- Janet Daby, children and families minister.
- Catherine McKinnell, school standards minister.
- Baroness Jacqui Smith, minister for skills in the House of Lords.
- Anneliese Dodds, minister for women and equalities, in a role shared with the education secretary.
(See full list of job roles and ministerial responsibilities below).
Stephen Morgan
Parliamentary under-secretary of state (Minister for Early Education)
The minister’s responsibilities include:
- early years education including for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
- childcare and the home learning environment
- early years workforce
- early communication skills and early intervention
- breakfast clubs
- school food, including free school meals
- independent schools
- maintenance and improvement of the education estate
- environmental sustainability in the education sectors
- school attendance, including register of children who are not in school
- mental health support in schools
- safeguarding, online safety and prevention of serious violence in schools and post-16 settings
- counter extremism in schools and post-16 settings
- behaviour, preventing bullying and exclusions in schools
- use of data, digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI) in education
- use of research, science and evidence within the Department for Education
Janet Daby
Parliamentary under-secretary of state (Minister for Children and Families)
The minister’s responsibilities include:
- children’s social care
- children’s unique identifier
- 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
Catherine McKinnell
Minister of state (Minister for School Standards)
The minister’s responsibilities include:
- school improvement, intervention and inspection (including links with Ofsted)
- regional school improvement teams
- initial teacher training and incentives
- teacher retention including the early career framework and teacher training entitlement
- school leadership
- teacher pay and pensions
- school support staff
- core school funding
- qualifications (including links with Ofqual)
- curriculum and assessment, including the curriculum and assessment review and creative education
- special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and high needs
- alternative provision
- school governance
- admissions
- faith schools
- school uniform
- school transport
- access to sport, arts and music in education, working with other departments
- pupil premium
Baroness Jacqui Smith
Minister of state (Minister for Skills)
The minister’s responsibilities include:
- Skills England
- technical qualifications, including T Levels
- higher technical education (levels 4 and 5)
- adult education, including basic skills and combined authority devolution
- careers advice and support for young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) (including the Careers and Enterprise Company)
- apprenticeships, including the growth and skills levy
- Technical Excellence Colleges
- local skills improvement plans
- governance, intervention and accountability of further education colleges
- funding for education and training, provision and outcomes for 16- to 19-year-olds
- further education funding, financial stability and workforce
- access to higher education, participation and lifelong learning
- quality of higher education and the student experience (including the Office for Students)
- student finance (including the Student Loans Company)
- international education
Minister for Women and Equalities
(Joint role between Phillipson and Dodds)
Responsibilties include:
- promoting equality of opportunity for everyone, and reducing negative disparities
- strategic oversight of Government’s equality policy, for women, ethnicity and LGBT
- sponsorship of the Social Mobility Commission and Equality and Human Rights Commission
- overview of the overarching equalities legislative framework, including the Equality Act
