Changes in Government responsibility for Education

Ed Balls is now in charge of in charge of the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) which will have a "co-ordinating role on children's health, welfare and child poverty”. The old Department for Education and Skills no longer exists.

Ed Balls went to Nottingham High School (so he must be local to my city, originally), Keble College, Oxford, and Harvard. He joined the Commons only in 2005, representing Normanton in West Yorkshire and is married to fellow minister Yvette Cooper. Quite a fast rise to prominence.

According to the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6248648.stm :

In a ministerial statement setting out the structural changes to government departments, Gordon Brown said the new department would for the first time bring together "key aspects of policy affecting children and young people".

The Dept for Children, Schools and Families will be responsible for

• Schools
• 14-19 changes
  
• Children's health
  
• Child protection
  
• Youth and family policy
  
• Respect agenda
  
• Anti-drugs work

Even without the Universities and skills sector it still sounds pretty challenging work, especially for someone who hasn't been in the Commons long. Good luck to him.