Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities
The Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP
Biography
Bridget Phillipson was appointed Secretary of State for Education on 5 July 2024 and Minister for Women and Equalities on 8 July 2024.
She was elected as the Labour MP for Houghton and Sunderland South in May 2010.
Secretary of State for Education
The Secretary of State is responsible for the work of the Department for Education, including:
- early years and childcare
- children’s social care
- teacher quality, recruitment and retention
- the school curriculum
- school improvement
- academies and free schools
- further education
- apprenticeships and skills
- higher education
Minister for Women and Equalities
The Minister for Women and Equalities has responsibility for:
- 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
Before July 2014, this role was covered by the Minister for Women and the Minister for Equalities.
Department for Education, Government Equalities Office, Equality Hub, and Race Disparity Unit