Our governance
Source: gov.uk (2025-10-15)

The main decision-making, executive and managerial bodies in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The Department is governed by:

The Secretary of State’s overall responsibility for the Department and its public bodies,

The Permanent Secretary’s responsibility, both to the Secretary of State and directly to Parliament, as the Accounting Officer for the Department’s expenditure and management, and

The Departmental Board’s collective responsibility in providing strategic advice to achieve the Department’s goals effectively

The system of control also includes the Departmental Board sub-committees, the Executive Team Committee and its sub-committees, along with our control framework which is supported by internal and external assurance processes.

Departmental Board

The Departmental Board is chaired by the Secretary of State and forms the collective strategic leadership of the department. It brings together the ministerial and civil service leaders with senior non-executives from outside government.

The board:
- sets the overall strategic direction for the department
- supports and advises ministers and the department on strategic issues linked to the development and implementation of the government’s objectives
- monitors performance and oversees the management of risks
Departmental Board members
- The Rt Hon Pat McFadden MP (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/pat-mcfadden), Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
- The Rt Hon Dame Diana Johnson DBE MP (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/diana-johnson), Minister of State (Minister for Employment)
- The Rt Hon Sir Stephen Timms MP (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/stephen-timms), Minister of State (Minister for Social Security and Disability)
- The Rt Hon Baroness Smith of Malvern (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/jacqui-smith), Minister of State (Minister for Skills)
- Torsten Bell MP (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/torsten-bell), Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Pensions)
- Andrew Western MP (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/andrew-western), Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Transformation)
- Baroness Sherlock OBE (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/baroness-sherlock), Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Lords)
- Ashley Machin (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/ashley-machin), lead non-executive board member
- Valerie Hughes D’Aeth (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/valerie-hughes-daeth), non-executive board member
- Charlie Steel (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/charlie-steel), non-executive board member
- David Bennett (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/david-bennett--4), non-executive board member
- Rev Prof Gina Radford (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/gina-radford), non-executive board member
- Arabel Bailey (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/arabel-bailey), non-executive board member
- Taalib Shaah (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/taalib-shaah), non-executive board member
- Sir Peter Schofield KCB (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/peter-schofield), Permanent Secretary
- Catherine Vaughan (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/catherine-vaughan), Director General, Finance
- Julie Blomley (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/julie-blomley), Director General, People and Capability
The Departmental Board has 4 sub-committees which are chaired by non-executive board members.

Departmental Audit and Risk Assurance Committee

As a subcommittee of the Departmental Board, the Departmental Audit and Risk Assurance Committee provides an independent review of the appropriateness, adequacy, integrity and value for money of the department’s governance, risk management and control processes. The committee’s main focus covers, but is not limited to, 5 specific areas:
- corporate governance
- risk management
- audit
- accounting and reporting
- security
Departmental Audit and Risk Assurance Committee members
- Charlie Steel (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/charlie-steel), non-executive board member
- Taalib Shaah (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/taalib-shaah), non-executive board member
- Sally Cheshire CBE, non-executive
- Ian Wilson, non-executive
- Richard Newsome, non-executive
- Gayle Sparks, non-executive
A range of senior DWP leaders with appropriate responsibilities, GIAA colleagues and representatives from National Audit Office also attend.

Executive Leadership Board

As a subcommittee of the Departmental Board, the Executive Leadership Board provides a forum for strategic discussions and decisions on talent, succession planning, pay and performance of directors general.

Executive Leadership Board members:

Valerie Hughes D’Aeth (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/valerie-hughes-daeth), non-executive board member

Ashley Machin (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/ashley-machin), lead non-executive board member

Sir Peter Schofield KCB (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/peter-schofield), Permanent Secretary

Transformation Advisory Committee

As a subcommittee of the Departmental Board, the Transformation Advisory Committee provides independent expert advice on DWP’s strategic vision for transformation. The Committee scrutinises transformation and continuous improvement activity, including digital enablement, automation and use of data.

Transformation Advisory Committee members:

Arabel Bailey (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/arabel-bailey), non-executive board member

Martin Duggan, non-executive

Oliver Rowlands, non-executive

Simon Sear, non-executive

A range of senior DWP leaders with appropriate responsibilities also attend.

Serious Case Panel

The Serious Case Panel (https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/dwp-serious-case-panel) considers serious issues arising from cases and other insight that affect the DWP customer experience. The panel makes recommendations to address these issues to help reduce such cases in future.

Executive Team

The Executive Team is the senior decision-making body and provides corporate leadership for the department. It ensures that the department is fully aligned with the strategic direction set by the Secretary of State, maintains and directs the capabilities to deliver, oversees the delivery of outcomes, and prioritises and allocates financial and other resources.

Executive Team members
- Sir Peter Schofield KCB (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/peter-schofield), Permanent Secretary
- Catherine Vaughan CB (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/catherine-vaughan), Director General, Finance
- Debbie Alder (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/debbie-alder), Director General, Corporate Transformation
- Barbara Bennett (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/barbara-bennett), Director General, Jobs and Careers Service Operations
- Neil Couling CBE (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/neil-couling), Director General, DWP Services and Fraud
- Sophie Dean (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/sophie-dean), Director General, Welfare and Pensions Policy
- Katherine Green (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/katherine-green), Director General, Labour Market and Skills Policy
- Julie Blomley (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/julie-blomley), Director General, People and Capability
- Helen Wylie (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/helen-wylie), Director General, Digital and Transformation
There are a number of formal sub-committees of the Executive Team.

Investment Committee

The Investment Committee is chaired by the Director General, Finance and provides assurance on large-scale investments, taking decisions on the prioritisation and commencement of new activities and business-as-usual investments that exceed Investment Committee approval limits. It also oversees the Department’s in-year financial position, balancing affordability and delivery considerations.

People and Capacity Board

The People and Capacity Board is chaired by the Director General, People and Capability. It maintains strategic oversight of the Department’s people agenda and cross-cutting people issues, commissions and approves the annual workforce plans and five year strategic workforce plans, guides actions impacting workforce capacity and capability, and monitors performance against desired people outcomes.

Outcomes Board

The Outcomes Board is jointly chaired by the Directors General, Policy. It drives the end-to-end progress and achievement of the departmental strategic outcomes, from policy development through to delivery.

Delivery governance

In addition to the above, a number of boards and committees bring people together from across the department to support Director General, Chief Officer and Senior Responsible Officer cross-cutting accountabilities.

Clinical Governance and Excellence Board

The Clinical Governance and Excellence Board is chaired by Rev Prof Gina Radford (https://www.gov.uk/government/people/gina-radford), non-executive board member. This decision-making board includes a wide membership from across the department at director level to ensure that silo working is minimised. It connects the clinical leadership with policy, operations and customer experience teams.

The board guides the clinical governance strategy, monitors performance, advises on significant risks and provides assurance. It ensures appropriate risk escalation to Ministers and the Executive Team. The board includes an external member to provide independent scrutiny and to ensure our processes align with best practice. To ensure the voice of our service users is heard, the board is closely affiliated with the Departmental Operational Stakeholder Engagement Forum. The Chief Medical Advisor attends the forum biannually to update members and to ask for guidance on key decisions.

The board has primarily focused on monitoring implementation of the new clinical governance framework to bring our standards and processes in line with NHS best practice.

The Clinical Governance Annual Report (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/clinical-governance-annual-report-2024-to-2025) provides a summary of clinical governance activities.

More information

You can find more information on each of our boards and committees on pages 180 to 193 of the DWP annual report and accounts 2024 to 2025 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2024-to-2025). The current visual representation of our board structure can be found in the DWP Accounting Officer System Statement 2025.