February 1, 2010 – 1:03 pm
The government today launched National Apprenticeship Week, celebrating the commitment of employers to recruit apprentices and urging people to look at the benefits to their skills and career of becoming an apprentice.
Business Minister Pat McFadden today visited a Morrisons supermarket in Camden, London, to congratulate the firm for its commitment to make 5,500 Government-funded Apprenticeship places available by July 2010.
Read more about the launch of Apprenticeships Week 2010
Go to the Apprenticeships website
Become a fan of Apprenticeships on Facebook
January 26, 2010 – 4:36 pm
Today the Government announced plans for a new UK Life Sciences Super Cluster, supported by £1 million of Government investment. Bringing together industry, academia and the NHS, it will help deliver the next generation of medicines and technologies needed to support people suffering from chronic diseases.
At its heart will be the creation of Therapeutic Capability Clusters. These will be made up of a small number of selected academic and NHS centres of excellence, which will work with industry to harness UK capabilities in specific therapeutic areas and work on early stage clinical development and experimental medicine.
Read Life Sciences 2010: Delivering the Blueprint (PDF)
Go to the Office for Life Sciences website
Read more: ‘Life Sciences Super Cluster announced‘
January 26, 2010 – 11:28 am
This research strategy is a key part of the work of BIS in taking forward our commitment to evidence-based policy making, with research being developed in a wide range of areas to support the policy objectives BIS is committed to delivering.
BIS economics and social research strategy 2009-10: an overview of economic and social research (PDF)
Read more about the strategy.
January 25, 2010 – 10:00 am
A free online public procurement course designed to help smaller firms bid for the £220 billion of public sector contracts awarded each year was today launched jointly by Small Business Minister Lord Davies and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liam Byrne.
The course, ‘Winning the Contract’, shows participants how to identify business opportunities to supply goods and services to the public sector, explains the public procurement process, and demonstrates how to submit tenders.
More on Free course to help smaller firms bid for Government contracts
January 18, 2010 – 10:14 am
Business Minister, Pat McFadden, is today confirming the Government’s commitment to promoting the aspirations of all young people, whatever their background, and putting social mobility at the heart of our plans for growth and success in the global economy.
The Government’s ambitious response to Unleashing Aspiration, the final report from the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions, agrees to implement the vast majority of the panel’s 88 recommendations.
View the responses and leave your comments
Download the report (PDF)
Full press release: Government acts to break through glass ceiling on social mobility
January 13, 2010 – 4:41 pm
Science and the Media: Securing the Future – a report by the Science and the Media Expert Group is published today. Lord Drayson, Science and Innovation Minister, said:
“The quality of journalism by the UK’s specialist press is excellent, so it’s great these actions are targeted at protecting and building on it.”
January 13, 2010 – 2:27 pm
Employers are being given an early heads-up on the rights of employees to request time for training.
Guidance made available from today on BusinessLink informs employers of their obligations 12 weeks before the right to request time to train begins on 6 April 2010.
Guidance is also being published today on the DirectGov website to inform employees about how they make a request under this new right.
January 7, 2010 – 9:51 am
A new strategy to boost strong, sustainable, long-term economic growth in the UK has been announced today by Lord Mandelson.
The strategy, Going for Growth, outlines seven key areas where the Government will build on the foundations of New Industry New Jobs. They include:
- Supporting enterprise and entrepreneurial activity
- Fostering knowledge creation and its innovative application
- Helping people develop the skills and capabilities to reach their personal and economic potential
- Investing in the infrastructure to support a low carbon modern economy
- Ensuring open and competitive markets allowing business to grow
- Building on our industrial strengths in sectors where we have expertise and investing to foster new comparative advantage
- Understanding and employing the right strategic role for government in markets enabling us to capitalise on new opportunities.
Visit the Going for Growth page here to read the strategy and view related announcements, video and links.
News Releases:
Government sets out strategy to get Britain Going for Growth
£70m boost for UK Manufacturing
January 7, 2010 – 8:20 am
Rural communities and hard to reach areas who do not have access to next generation broadband will benefit from a share of £1 billion of Government investment said Business Secretary, Lord Mandelson today.
The investment will upgrade the UK’s digital infrastructure to bring super-fast broadband to 90% of the country, essential if the UK is to remain globally competitive as estimates suggest that private investment will only reach up to 70% of the population by 2017.
The Next Generation Fund will provide the UK with a world class communications network to bolster innovation and services in digital content.
The Government is now consulting on the most effective way to deploy the investment – read the consultation document.
The Treasury is also consulting on how the fund will be raised through a new Landline Duty.
January 5, 2010 – 3:00 pm
Lord Mandelson and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have announced a special Diamond Jubilee weekend – moving the late May Bank Holiday to Monday 4th June and adding an extra Bank Holiday on Tuesday 5th June.
2012 will be a landmark year for Her Majesty, Britain and the Commonwealth. Queen Victoria is the only British Monarch to have celebrated a Diamond Jubilee previously.
As outlined in our strategy 
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