The Department for Education and Skills no longer exists and now education strategy is split across two departments: the newly formed Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

What can schools expect under this new regime? Well, although the new team have only been in place for a couple of months, the indications are already clear. Education Today takes you through the key players, their backgrounds, their new responsibilities and their stated intentions for the future.

Firstly, we need to start with Mr. Brown himself. His new position is as Prime Minister, which he assumes following a decade as Chancellor of the Exchequer. He has been the MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath since 2005 and was the MP for Dunfermline East from 1983 to 2005. He was Opposition spokesperson on Treasury and Economic Affairs (Shadow Chancellor) from 1992.

Mr Brown was born in 1951 and educated at Kirkcaldy High School and Edinburgh University where he gained 1st Class Honours and then a Doctorate. He was Rector of Edinburgh University and Chairman of the University Court between 1972 and 1975. From 1976 to 1980, Mr Brown lectured at Edinburgh University and then Caledonian University before taking up a post at Scottish TV (1980 - 1983).

Mr Brown has already made several intentions clear in his approach to education policy. Just before taking up the position of Prime Minister, he addressed the Confederation of British Industry in London in May and told them that he will be focusing on what is taught in the classroom rather than on new school structures, like his predecessor.

Not surprisingly for an ex-Chancellor, he wants to particularly concentrate on the numeracy skills of primary schoolchildren. To this end he has launched an incentive called Every Child Counts and will dedicate £35m to this cause. He has stated that he wants to introduce an army of maths mentors into primary schools to help raise standards. He has caused some controversy by suggesting that this job could be taken on by maths undergraduates rather than qualified teachers.

Gordon Brown is married and has two young sons of pre-school age.

Ed Balls has been appointed Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families – a new position. His job will be to ensure that every child gets the best possible start in life, that they are safe and healthy and that they get the best possible education and childhood, free from poverty.

Mr Balls was previously Economic Secretary to the Treasury a position he held since last May. He has been a Member of Parliament of Normanton since 2005. He was born in 1967 and was educated at Nottingham High School; Keble College, Oxford; and the John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard.

Ed Balls is married to Yvette Cooper MP and has three children. His mission statement on his new position is as follows:

“It is a great honour and a great responsibility to be the first ever Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families. Children and families are the bedrock of our society and for the first time this new department will bring together all aspects of policy affecting children and young people.

“Every parent wants their child to get the best possible start in life and have the best chance to do well in school. Our responsibility will be to support families and ensure that all children and young people are safe and healthy, that they secure the highest standards of achievements, that they enjoy their childhood and that they can make a positive contribution to society free from the effects of poverty.

“Building on a track record of real achievement we will continue to drive up standards in every school so that every child receives the best possible education, personalised to their needs, aptitudes and aspirations. Working closely with the Youth Justice Board there will be a new emphasis on preventing youth offending.

“I will also ensure that the new department works very closely with the new Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. We have already made very good progress on the development of the new Diplomas and we will need to ensure that the reforms we are making to education for 14-19 year olds is embedded into the priorities of employers and the economy.”

The Minister of State for Schools and Learners is Jim Knight. His areas of responsibility will be raising school standards – including exams and national tests, the national curriculum, 14-19 education and Diplomas, school funding and capital including Building Schools for the Future and school workforce issues.

Jim Knight was first appointed as Minister of State to the then Department for Education and Skills in May last year. Before that, he was Minister for Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity since the 2005 General Election. He was elected MP for Dorset South in June 2001.

He was educated at Cambridge, and before entering Parliament managed a publishing company for ten years. He is married with two children.

In July, Mr. Knight told Parliament, “We want to see an improvement in sex and relationship education in schools, particularly following the Youth Parliament's helpful report on this subject. We have no plans to remove the right of parents to withdraw their children from all or part of the sex and relationship education that is delivered within the personal, social and health education curriculum. We believe that that right is essential to accommodate different beliefs on what can, for some parents, be a very sensitive issue.”

Andrew Adonis is Parliamentary Under Secretary for Schools and Learners. He is principally concerned with school formation, including Trust schools, Academies and Specialist schools, primary education including phonics, the City Challenge programme, and Special Education Needs.

Lord Adonis – a life peer – was first appointed as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State to the then Department for Education and Skills in May 2005. Before that he was adviser on education and public services to Tony Blair. This followed a career as an academic and journalist, with positions including Fellow in history and politics of Nuffield College, Oxford, education correspondent and Public Policy Editor at the Financial Times, and political columnist at The Observer. He is married with two young children.

Lord Adonis told the House of Lords last month, “The concept of the extended school that is open for 12 hours a day, providing not only core educational services, but after-school youth activities and a range of facilities for the community, is at the heart of the academies we have been developing in Hackney. Ministers have been at the fore of those developments. Therefore, we have an important role in stimulating new provision and working closely with local authorities to see what they can do to enhance provision in this area.

“The most important provision that we can make is as the guardians of the public purse and we have announced that we are making available to local authorities significant financial resources, which will enable them, in turn, to enhance facilities in their communities.”

Beverley Hughes becomes Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families. Her principal policy areas include leading the cross- Government agenda for children’s well-being, safety, protection and care; family policy including parenting support; teenage pregnancy strategy; youth justice; Sure Start, childcare and early education, the Every Child Matters agenda, and extended schools.

Beverley Hughes was first appointed as Minister of State to the then Department for Education and Skills in May 2005. She continues in the role and will now attend Cabinet when social policy issues are being discussed, as well as holding additional responsibilities as Minister for the North West. She is married with three children who all attended local primary and secondary schools.

Attending Manchester and Liverpool Universities in the early 70's, she then became a probation officer, university lecturer and then the Senior Lecturer and Head of Department at the University of Manchester.

After her appointment in July, she told Parliament; “The joint review by my Department and the Treasury of national and international research, including on the views of young people themselves, has established a number of key findings about adolescence on which we must now act. First, today's teenagers do indeed face a much more complex process of growing up, with an unprecedented range of opportunities, but with new risks and challenges, too. Secondly, social and economic trends, including globalisation, mean that academic and vocational skills alone are no longer sufficient to equip young people for our changing labour market.”

Finally, Kevin Brennan is Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children, Young People and Families. Kevin Brennan’s principal policy areas include the safeguarding of vulnerable children and the new Vetting and Barring System; children in care, fostering and adoption; pupil behaviour, attendance, and tackling bullying; the Respect agenda; and health issues including school food, Healthy Schools, obesity, drugs and alcohol. Kevin Brennan was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State on 29 June 2007.

Kevin Brennan was elected to Parliament in June 2001, representing the constituency of Cardiff West. He was educated at St Alban's Roman Catholic Comprehensive School in Pontypool, before going up to Pembroke College, Oxford, where he took a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. After graduating, Kevin took a Post Graduate Certificate in Education at the University of Wales, Cardiff, and then a Msc in Education and Management at the University of Glamorgan. He lives in Cardiff West and is married with a daughter.

“I am very proud to answer the first question on behalf of the new Department for Children, Schools and Families—the "Every Child Matters" Department, including children in care,” he told Parliament on July 26.

“The White Paper "Care Matters: Time for Change" proposed a wide range of measures to improve outcomes for children in care, and additional funding of £305 million over four years. We will introduce legislation in the next Session to support implementation; provide a £500 allowance for each child in care falling behind at school; improve stability through parenting support for foster carers and better use of family carers; and improve support for those leaving care.”

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