Minister of State (Minister for Employment)
Responsibilities
Responsibilities include:
- labour market
- addressing inactivity to improve labour supply and economic growth
- in work progression
- skills
- conditionality and sanctions
- uprating and Benefit Cap
- overall management and delivery of Universal Credit and legacy benefits
- Jobcentre Plus
- international
- National Insurance Numbers (NINO)
Current role holder
Guy Opperman MP
Guy Opperman was appointed Minister of State at the Department for Work and Pensions on 27 October 2022.
He was previously Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions between 14 June 2017 and 8 September 2022.
He served as a Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury) from 17 July 2016 to 14 June 2017. He was elected Conservative MP for Hexham in May 2010.
Education
Guy was educated at Harrow School, he went on to read law at the University of Buckingham. He also gained a first class diploma from the University of Lille.
Political career
Guy previously served as Private Parliamentary Secretary to Mark Harper, the then Immigration Minister. He served as an Assistant Government Whip from May 2015 until July 2016.
Career before politics
Guy was called to the bar in 1989. He spent 20 years as a barrister and was also Director of his family’s engineering business until 2009.
Personal life
Guy is an amateur jockey and rode his first win in 1985.