Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
United Kingdom government cabinet minister
The secretary of state for work and pensions, also referred to as the work and pensions secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Department for Work and Pensions. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.
The office holder works alongside the other work and pensions ministers. The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow secretary of state for work and pensions. The performance of the secretary of state is also scrutinised by the Work and Pensions Select Committee.
The office is currently held by Pat McFadden.
Responsibilities
Corresponding to what is generally known as a labour minister in many other countries, the work and pensions secretary's remit includes:
Support people of working age
Oversight of employers and pensions
Fiscal Consolidation
Providing support for disability
Support for families and children
History
It was created on 8 June 2001 by the merger of the employment division of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security.
The Ministry of Pensions was created in 1916 to handle the payment of war pensions to former members of the Armed Forces and their dependants. In 1944 a separate Ministry of National Insurance (titled the Ministry of Social Insurance until 17 November 1944) was formed; the two merged in 1953 as the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance. In 1966 the Ministry was renamed the Ministry of Social Security, but this was short-lived, as the ministry merged with the Ministry of Health in 1968 to form the Department of Health and Social Security.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Secretary of State for Work and Pensions” is united Kingdom government cabinet minister. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Secretary, State and Work, not as a finished interpretation.
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The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7444357. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 3 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2001, 1916, 1944 and 1953.
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This entry incorporates text from “Secretary of State for Work and Pensions” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.