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Department for Children, Schools and Families Ministerial Team
Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families
Ed Balls
Ed Balls was appointed Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families on 28 June 2007. His principal focus will be to ensure that every child gets the best possible start in life, that they are safe and healthy, that they secure the highest standards of achievements, that they enjoy their childhood and that they can make a positive contribution to society free from the effects of poverty.
Ed Balls was previously Economic Secretary to the Treasury, taking up appointment on 5 May 2006. He has been a Member of Parliament for Normanton since 2005. He was born in 1967 and educated at Nottingham High School; Keble College, Oxford; and the John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard.
Ed Balls was a teaching fellow Department of Economics, Harvard 1989-90; and an Economics Leader writer and columnist for the Financial Times 1990-94. He was Economic Adviser to the then Shadow Chancellor Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP 1994-97; Secretary Labour Party Economic Policy Commission 1994-97; Economic Adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer 1997-99; Chief Economic Adviser to HM Treasury 1999-2004; and Research Fellow, Smith Institute 2004-05.
Ed Balls has had a number of publications including Towards a New Regional Policy and Reforming Britain’s economic and financial policy: towards greater economic stability and Microeconomic Reform in Britain: Delivering Opportunities for All. He is a member of the TGWU, Unison and the Co-operative Party.
Ed Balls is married to Yvette Cooper MP and has three children. Outside work his interests include music, cooking and playing football with his children.
Minister of State for Schools and Learners
Jim Knight
Jim Knight’s principal policy areas include raising school standards including public examinations and national tests, the national curriculum, 14-19 education and Diplomas, school funding and capital including Building Schools for the Future, and school workforce issues.
Jim Knight was first appointed as Minister of State to the then Department for Education and Skills in May 2006. Previously Minister for Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity since the 2005 General Election, Jim Knight was elected MP for Dorset South in June 2001.
He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Rosie Winterton at the Department of Health between 2003 and 2004, before going on to serve as PPS to the Department of Health’s Ministerial Team.
Jim Knight, 41, was educated at Cambridge. Before entering Parliament, he managed a publishing company, based in the West Country, for 10 years. Prior to that, he managed arts venues and worked for a small scale travelling theatre company. He is married with two children.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools and Learners
Andrew Adonis
Andrew Adonis’ principal policy areas include school formation including Trust schools, Academies and Specialist schools, primary education including phonics, the City Challenge programme, and Special Education Needs.
Andrew Adonis was first appointed as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State to the then Department for Education and Skills in May 2005. Prior to this he was the previous Prime Minister Tony Blair’s adviser on education and public services, and Head of the No 10 Policy Unit, joining in 1998 after a career as an academic and journalist.
Between 1988 and 1998 he was successively Fellow (in history and politics) of Nuffield College, Oxford; education correspondent and then Public Policy Editor at the Financial Times; and political columnist and leader writer at The Observer.
He is author or co-author of six books, including studies of the English class system (A Class Act, 1997), the rise and fall of the poll tax (Failure in British Government, 1994), the Victorian House of Lords (Making Aristocracy Work, 1993) and a collection of essays on Roy Jenkins published last year. Andrew was educated at Kingham Hill School and at Keble and Nuffield Colleges, Oxford. He is married with a son and daughter who attend local primary schools.
Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families
Beverley Hughes
Beverley Hughes' principal policy areas include leading the cross-Government agenda for children's well-being, safety, protection and care; family policy including parenting support; teenage pregnancy strategy; Sure Start, childcare and early education, the Every Child Matters agenda, and extended schools. She shares joint responsibility with other government departments for youth justice and child poverty.
Beverley Hughes was first appointed as Minister of State to the then Department for Education and Skills in May 2005. She continues in the role and will now attend Cabinet when social policy issues are being discussed, as well as holding additional responsibilities as Minister for the North West.
Her most recent previous appointment was in May 2002 as Minister of State with responsibility for Citizenship, Immigration and Counter Terrorism. In June 2001, she was appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Home Office. In July 1999, she was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the then Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, with responsibility for local government, regeneration, regions, planning and construction.
From June 1997 she served as a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee until her appointment as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Hilary Armstrong, Minister of State for Local Government and Housing in July 1998. Beverley Hughes was elected Member of Parliament for Stretford and Urmston in 1997.
Before entering Parliament Beverley Hughes qualified and worked in Merseyside as a probation officer and subsequently became Senior Lecturer and Head of Department in the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at the University of Manchester.
She was elected to Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council in 1986, and was Leader of the Council from 1995 until her election to the House of Commons in 1997. Beverley Hughes was educated at Ellesmere Port Girls' Grammar School, Manchester University and Liverpool University. She is married with three children who all attended local primary and secondary schools.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children, Young People and Families
Kevin Brennan
Kevin Brennan’s principal policy areas include the safeguarding of vulnerable children and the new Vetting and Barring System; children in care, fostering and adoption; pupil behaviour, attendance, and tackling bullying; the Respect agenda; and health issues including school food, Healthy Schools, obesity, drugs and alcohol.
Kevin Brennan was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State on 29 June 2007. Kevin Brennan was elected to Parliament in June 2001, representing the constituency of Cardiff West. In 2004 Kevin was appointed as PPS to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Alan Milburn. After the 2005 general Election he was appointed a Junior Whip in the Government Whips Office. In 2006 he was appointed Lords Commissioner to the Treasury, a senior Government Whip position.
Previously, Kevin Brennan worked as Rhodri Morgan's constituency-based researcher from 1995, acting as his agent and Campaign Manager in the 1999 and 2000 Welsh Labour leadership contests. From March 2000 until May 2001, he acted as Rhodri Morgan's Special Advisor at the Welsh Assembly.
Kevin Brennan was born in Cwmbran, South Wales, on 16 October 1959. He was educated at St Alban's Roman Catholic Comprehensive School in Pontypool, before going up to Pembroke College, Oxford, where he took a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. After graduating, Kevin took a Post Graduate Certificate in Education at the University of Wales, Cardiff, and then a Msc in Education and Management at the University of Glamorgan.
Before becoming Mr Morgan's full-time aide in 1995, he was Head of Economics at Radyr Comprehensive School in Cardiff. Between 1991 and 2001 he was a member of Cardiff City Council, and then Cardiff City and County, Council representing the ward of Canton. During this time he served as Chair of the Finance Committee, Chair of the Economic Scrutiny Committee and Vice-Chair of the Economic Development.
He lives in Cardiff West and is married with a daughter.
