The Rt Hon Sir Stephen Timms MP
Biography
Sir Stephen Timms was appointed jointly Minister of State in the Department for Work and Pensions and Minister of State (Minister for Equalities) in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on 22 July 2026.
He was previously Minister of State (Minister for Social Security and Disability) in the Department for Work and Pensions and Minister for Equalities in the Department for Education between 8 July 2024 to 21 July 2026.
He was elected as the MP for East Ham in July 2024.
Minister of State (Minister for Equalities)
The Minister’s responsibilities are:
- Protecting and promoting disabled people’s rights, including by working with disabled people’s organisations and other stakeholders
- Delivering the Plan for Disability, working with the Lead Ministers for Disability
- Introduction of mandatory disability pay gap reporting
- British Sign Language (BSL) policy and on-going delivery of the BSL Act 2022, including with the BSL Advisory Board
- International work on disability
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Office for Equality and Opportunity, and Department for Work and Pensions
Minister of State (Minister for Social Security and Disability)
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Oversight of Disability Unit, and cross-government disability policy
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Health and disability reform
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Universal Credit and Legacy Benefits Delivery
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Contributory Benefits, Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Disability Living Allowance (DLA), and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
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Carer’s Allowance (CA)
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Housing
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Access to Work
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Health Transformation Programme
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Health and Safety Executive
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Safeguarding (including Serious Case Panel)
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Serious Case Panel
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Uprating and Benefit Cap
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Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit and oversight of the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council