Department for Work and Pensions
| Department for Work and Pensions | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Logo of the Department for Work and Pensions | |
| Department overview | |
| Formed | 2001 |
| Preceding Department | Department for Education and Skills Department of Social Security |
| Jurisdiction | United Kingdom |
| Headquarters | London |
| Annual budget | £174.3 billion (social security benefits), £7.6 billion (current) & £200 million (capital) in 2011-12 [1] [2] |
| Minister responsible | Iain Duncan Smith MP, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions |
| Department executive | Robert Devereux, Permanent Secretary |
| Child agencies | Jobcentre Plus The Pension, Disability and Carers Service |
| Website | |
| www.dwp.gov.uk | |
| United Kingdom | |
.svg) This article is part of the series: |
|
|
|
|
|
Foreign policy
|
|
 |
|
|
Other countries · Atlas Politics portal |
|
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is the largest government department in the United Kingdom, created on June 8, 2001 from the merger of the employment part of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security and headed by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, a Cabinet position. The total annual budget of the DWP in 2011-12 is £151.6 billion, representing approximately 28% of total UK Government spending. The DWP spends a far greater share of national wealth than any other department in Britain, by a wide margin.
Contents |
[edit] Role
The department is responsible for welfare and pension policy.[3] Its key aims are "to help its customers become financially independent and to help reduce child poverty".[4]
[edit] Ministers
The DWP Ministers are as follows:[5]
| Minister | Rank | Portfolio | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP | Secretary of State | Overall responsibility | |
| The Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP | Minister of State | Employment | |
| Steve Webb MP | Minister of State | Pensions | |
| Maria Miller MP | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State | Disabled people | |
| Lord Freud | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State | Welfare reform | |
| Key | Conservative | |
|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrat |
The Permanent Secretary is Robert Devereux.
[edit] Structure
The Department for Work and Pensions has two operational organisations:[6]
- Jobcentre Plus administers working age benefits such as Jobseeker's Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance;
- The Pension, Disability and Carers Service containing two sub-organisations, The Pension Service and Disability and Carers Service. The former pays the Basic State Pension and Pension Credit and provides information on related issues; the latter provides financial support to disabled people and their carers.
The department's public bodies include:[7]
DWP has corporate buildings in London, Leeds, Blackpool, Newcastle upon Tyne, Warrington and Sheffield. The two agencies, Jobcentre Plus and the Pension, Disability and Carers Service, operate through a network of around 1,000 Jobcentres, contact centres and benefit processing centres across the UK.
After the departure of John Suffolk as Government Chief Information Officer (CIO) in November 2010,[8] the current CIO of the Department for Work and Pensions, Joe Harley, was picked to replace him.[9]
[edit] Research
The DWP is a major commissioner of external social science research, with the objective of providing the evidence base needed to inform departmental strategy, policy-making and delivery.[10] The DWP has developed and uses various microsimulation and other models, including the Policy Simulation Model (for appraisal of policy options), Pensim2 (to create projections of pension entitlements up to 2100) and Inform (to produce the Department's benefit caseload forecasts). Datasets held include the LLMDB and the Family Resources Survey.
[edit] Devolution and parity
Employment, health and safety, and social security policy are reserved matters in Scotland.[11]
Northern Ireland has parity with Great Britain in three areas:
Policy in these areas is technically devolved but, in practice, follows policy set by Parliament to provide consistency across the United Kingdom.[12] Employment and health and safety policy are fully devolved.
The DWP's main counterparts in Northern Ireland are:
- the Department for Social Development (administers welfare policy)
- the Department for Employment and Learning
- the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (oversees the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland)
[edit] Cost
The total annual budget of the DWP in 2011-12 is £151.6 billion, representing approximately 28% of total UK Government spending.[13] Of this sum, £12.5 billion is spent on Incapacity Benefit.[14] There are 2.6m individuals in the UK claiming Incapacity Benefit, approximately 8.5% of the total adult workforce in the United Kingdom of around 30.1m individuals.[15]
[edit] See also
- Benefit fraud
- Incapacity Benefit
- Pensions Commission
- Office of Manpower Economics
- The Pension, Disability and Carers Service
- United Kingdom budget
- Welfare Rights
[edit] References
- ^ Budget 2011. London: HM Treasury. 2011. p. 93. http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/2011budget_complete.pdf. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
- ^ Budget 2011. London: HM Treasury. 2011. p. 48. http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/2011budget_complete.pdf. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
- ^ Department for Work and Pensions: About DWP
- ^ Cabinet Office List of Government Departments and Ministers: Department for Work and Pensions
- ^ Cabinet Office List of Government Departments and Ministers: Department for Work and Pensions
- ^ Department for Work and Pensions: Customer delivery
- ^ Department for Work and Pensions: DWP sponsored public bodies
- ^ "John Suffolk to leave as Government CIO - a blow to G-Cloud, innovation and radical reform?". Computerworld UK. 16 November 2010. http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/the-tony-collins-blog/2010/11/john-suffolk-to-leave-as-government-cio---a-blow-to-innovation/index.htm.
- ^ "Joe Harley expected to be new Government CIO". Computerworld UK. 20 January 2011. http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/the-tony-collins-blog/2011/01/new-government-cio-expected-to-be-joe-harley/index.htm.
- ^ Department for Work and Pensions: Research, analysis and statistics
- ^ Scotland Act 1998, Schedule 5, Heads F&H
- ^ Northern Ireland Act 1998, Part VIII, Social security, child support and pensions
- ^ News Distribution Service Retrieved September 2011
- ^ Daily Telegraph Saturday 10 September 2011 Retrieved September 2011
- ^ Article at www.wordpress.com Retrieved September 2011
