Ministerial role
Minister of State (Minister for the Future of Work)
Organisations:
Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade
Current role holder:
Kate Dearden MP
Responsibilities
The minister is responsible for:
- Make Work Pay
- industrial relations
- parental leave and pay review
- labour market enforcement
- consumer protection
- competition policy
- retail and hospitality
- consumer goods
- product safety
- Post Office
- postal services
- Covid loans
- AI and the workforce
Public bodies:
- Post Office
- Low Pay Commission
- Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas)
- Fair Work Agency
- Pubs Code Adjudicator
- British Hallmarking Council
- Competition and Markets Authority
- Competition Service
- Competition Appeal Tribunal
- Central Arbitration Committee
- Certification Officer
Current role holder
Kate Dearden MP
Kate Dearden was appointed Minister of State (Minister for the Future of Work) in the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade on 21 July 2026.
She was previously Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Business and Trade between 7 September 2025 and 21 July 2026, and Assistant Whip, House of Commons between 18 July 2024 and 7 September 2025.
She was elected as the MP for Halifax in July 2024.
She studied for MA (Hons) International Relations at the University of Edinburgh and also previously worked for Community, a trade union.