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The Department for Work and Pensions (or DWP) (Welsh: Adran Gwaith a Phensiynau) is a department of the Government of 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. It is currently headed by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, a Cabinet position.
Purpose The department's stated purpose is "To promote opportunity and independence for all through modern, customer-focused services.". Ministerial team Source: * Permanent Secretary The Permanent Secretary is Leigh Lewis CB. In November 2005, he replaced Sir Richard Mottram, who moved to the Cabinet Office. Mottram had moved in 2002 from the same post at the Department of Transport to succeed Rachel Lomax, who had followed the opposite route and who then moved to the Bank of England as deputy governor in 2003. Lesley Strathie, director of Job Centre Plus also holds the rank of permanent secretary at DWP. Services The department also has responsibility for the Health and Safety Commission and the Health and Safety Executive. Location and staffing The department's central administrative office is in Whitehall, London. There are a number of other regional offices and Jobcentres others where members of the public can visit to find out information. The Pension Service has 133 specialised teams across the country called Local Service, who can visit pensioners in their homes if this is preferred. The department's annual "expenditure limit" (budget) figures are, at the time of the 2004 Spending Review: 2004-05: £8,164m, 05-06: £8,432m, 06-07: £8,212m and 07-08: £8,105m. The DWP employed (in 2003) 131,000 members of staff to discharge all of its functions. This figure will reduce by 30,000 by 2008, with a further 10,000 being moved to front-line services. This is part of the Government's pledge to reduce civil servant numbers by 100,000. See also | ||||||||
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