Prime Minister Theresa May has made a number of important changes to the roles and responsibilities of ministers working on child welfare policy.

These include a wider brief for Minister Of State For Vulnerable Children And Families, Ed Timpson, with added responsibilities in the areas of children’s mental health, the pupil premium and the National Citizen Service.

We still think it’s strange that child welfare matters continue to be lumped in under the Department for Education, and spread out across other ministerial roles. It’s time we had a dedicated department for this work.

We’ve added a break down below of the current roles, responsibilities and who’s in charge of which area:

Department of Health

• Philip Dunne Minister of state for health Hospital care; NHS performance and operations; the workforce; patient safety and maternity care
• Nicola Blackwood Under secretary of state for public health and Innovation Children’s health; school nursing; and mental health in general
• David Mowat Under secretary of state for community health and care Carers; community services; learning disabilities; and all elements of primary care – including dentistry and pharmacy

Department For Education

• Justine Greening Secretary of State for Education; minister for women and equalities Early years; adoption and child protection; teachers’ pay; the school curriculum; school improvement; and the establishment of free schools and academies; crossgovernment equality strategy; transgender equality
• Edward Timpson Minister of state for vulnerable children and families Children’s social care, including child protection, children in care and adoption, care leavers, local authority innovation and intervention, and the Children and Social Work Bill; special educational needs, including education, health and care plans and reforms, attainment and progress, high needs funding; rounded and resilient young people, including mental health and character; school sport and personal, social and health education; National Citizen Service; behaviour and attendance, exclusions and alternative provision; pupil premium and pupil premium plus
• Caroline Dinenage Under secretary of state for women, equalities and early years Childcare and early years, including free childcare expansion; school bullying; sexual orientation and transgender policy; the Equality and Human Rights Commission
• Nick Gibb Minister of state for school standards Teachers; national schools funding formula; curriculum assessment and qualifications; school accountability, including Ofsted; Education for All Bill
• Robert Halfon Minister of state for apprenticeships and skills Careers education and guidance in schools; apprenticeships; funding for post-16 provision; further education and sixth form colleges

Communities and Local Government 

• Sajid Javid Secretary of State for Communities Supporting local government, communities and neighbourhoods; and Troubled Families programme

Home Office

• Sarah Newton Under secretary of state for vulnerability, safeguarding and countering extremism Drugs and alcohol; antisocial behaviour; crime prevention; gangs and youth crime; child sexual exploitation and abuse; online child abuse; honour-based violence; missing children; FGM; prostitution; domestic violence
• Robert Goodwill Minister of state for immigration Resettlement policy including the operation of Home Office resettlement programmes for vulnerable children and families

Ministry of Justice

• Elizabeth Truss Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Overall strategy on criminal justice; penal policy; human rights; and rehabilitation
• Dr Phillip Lee Under secretary of state for victims, youth and family justice Offender health and mental health; substance misuse; Taylor Review of youth justice; youth custodial estate; YJB; youth sentencing; restorative justice; and family law, family justice and mediation, including Cafcass
• Sam Gyimah Under secretary of state for prisons and probation Prison reform; custody; offender employment and education; probation services; parole; and sentencing

Department For Work and Pensions

• Damian Hinds Minister of state for employment Employment strategy; Jobcentre Plus; Youth Contract; family support issues, including childcare, maternity benefits and flexible working
• Penny Mordaunt Minister of state for disabled people, work and health Cross-government disability issues and disability benefits

Culture, Media and Sport

• Rob Wilson Minister for civil society Volunteering and social action; voluntary sector; social investment; mutuals; youth work policy; NCS

What do you think? Would you create new departments, or add other areas that may have been overlooked?