SkillsActive’s guide to the government

Will Pickering, SkillsActive – 05/07/2007

Following his appointment as Prime Minister, Gordon Brown announced a series of changes to the government's organisation and structure. The Prime Minister said that the changes would "sharpen the focus of central government" on the "new and very different challenges" that Britain will face.

Click here for SkillsActive’s full guide to the government

Click here for a SkillsActive presentation on the key education and skills changes within government

One of Brown’s biggest changes is the formation of two new ministries to replace the Department for Education and Skills. The new Department for Children, Schools and Families will be headed up by Brown’s closest political ally Ed Balls and coordinate work across government relevant to youth and family policy whilst taking specific responsibility for pre-19 education from the Department for Education and Skills.

The new department will responsible for rerouting up to £7bn of funding for 16-19 education for schools from the LSC via local authority education budgets. There has been speculation in the media that leaves both the role and future of the LSC in question.

Other responsibilities will include input promoting the health of children by working with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.  Beverly Hughes is a minister at the new department and keeps her responsibility for children and families.

The other half of the education brief is now covered by the new Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills, aimed at expanding high-end graduate skills and raising the skills of the wider adult workforce.

The department will take responsibility from the Department of Trade and Industry for making Britain "one of the best places in the world for science, research and innovation". It will also be responsible for the "development, funding and performance" of higher and further education, as well as carrying out reforms outlined in the Leitch Review of Skills. 

David Lammy, previously culture minister at DCMS, has been appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Skills, replacing Phil Hope, who is now responsible for the voluntary sector at the Cabinet Office. Lammy will have direct responsibility for Sector Skills Councils and National Skills Academies and the new Commission for Employment and Skills, although Bill Rammell, as the more senior Minister for Lifelong Learning, will have strategic oversight of skills strategy.

According to the government, the decision to shift responsibility for skills policy to the new department is intended to ensure that education and training meet the needs of employers. But the restructuring has prompted fears that parts of the skills agenda could fall through the gaps unless there is a monumental effort by government departments to work together.

Universities and skills issues are included in same department, although responsibility for work force development will now fall with the new Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

The new Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform replaces the DTI will take the lead in "creating the conditions for business success" and promoting "productivity and enterprise" across Government and within the EU.

It will also take joint responsibility with the Department for International Development on trade policy and with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on trade promotion. Former CBI Director General and current Skills Envoy, Sir (soon to be Lord) Digby Jones will become minister for trade and investment in the new department.

The Prime Minister also announced the creation of a Business Council for Britain, which will be made up of senior figures from the business community and will report to the Government and Parliament on Britain's progress in improving its economic and business environment. 

James Purnell is the new Secretary of State for Department of Culture Media and Sport, assisted by Margaret Hodge (Culture and Tourism) and Gerry Sutcliffe (Sport). The previous sport minister, Richard Caborn, has become an ambassador for England’s 2018 World Cup bid.

The media has reported that Purnell was keen to appoint Loughborough MP Andy Reed as sport minister, but Sutcliffe was picked by Brown as “a safe pair of hands”.

Sutcliffe said following his appointment: “Sport has tremendous power not just to inspire and delight but to change lives for the better. Be it on health, crime or social inclusion, I will be looking to harness the power and cement sport’s place at the heart of government policy”

An understated, yet effective politician, Sutcliffe is considered to be a shrewd operator who’s previous roles have included stints at the Home Office, DWP and DTI.

Tessa Jowell is now minister for the Olympics, based at the Cabinet Office. Hodge and Sutcliffe will share the roles originally split between Richard Caborn (Sport), Shaun Woodward (Tourism) and David Lammy (Culture).

Former Education Secretary, Alan Johnson, has been appointed Secretary of State at the Department of Health. Caroline Flint, previously minister for public health (including fitness) has left the department and now is at the DWP with responsibility for employment and welfare reform (including improving skills amongst the unemployed). She has been replaced as public health minister by Dawn Primarolo.

The Department for Education and Skills, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Deputy Prime Minister's Office will be disbanded.

In another new development, there is now a Minister for each of the UK’s nine regions.

For more information on any of the changes to government please contact Will Pickering, SkillsActive Public Affairs Officer on 020 7632 2032 or william.pickering@skillsactive.com