Policy Statements and Initiatives
STFC: The STFC Futures Programme is making available up to £1m per annum to create new multidisciplinary research communities by supporting interactions between STFC-funded researchers and appropriate science, technology & industry groups in the areas of Energy, Healthcare and the Environment.
DCLG: Communities Minister Bob Neill has recently confirmed a further £22m to help former coalfield communities get back on their feet and support economic growth.
ACE: The Arts Council has recently launched a new £37m fund to ensure more people living in places where levels of involvement are currently low, experience and are inspired by the arts.
ScotGov: Youth employment has topped the agenda at Scotland’s ninth National Economic Forum, held recently at Edinburgh’s Corn Exchange (the day after the publication of the Scottish Government’s Youth Employment Strategy).
DfT: Motorists are set for improvements in customer service from garages under a package of transparency & value-for-money measures unveiled recently by Transport Secretary, Justine Greening. An evaluation of existing MOT test standards & frequency took account of the views & evidence offered by a wide range of organisations.
ScotGov: Faster internet connections will drive economic growth, connect communities and bring the digital revolution to the whole of Scotland, Alex Neil said last week. Publishing Scotland’s Digital Future: Infrastructure Action Plan, the Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure & Capital Investment said the plan ‘will deliver faster internet access, no matter where you are in the country’.
To deliver the plan, the Scottish Government aims to secure investment worth hundreds of millions from both the public & private sector. Public funding of £185m has already been identified.
ScotGov: The £15m Childsmile nursery, school & practice programmes have now been rolled out across the country and are being delivered in every health board in Scotland. The programme emphasises the importance of tooth brushing and helps parents establish a healthy diet from the earliest stage.
MoD: The Government has set out its plans to prioritise investment in Science & Technology, in order to ensure the UK's Armed Forces continue to have state-of-the-art technology, equipment & support, in a White Paper published last week.
ScotGov: The UK Government’s Welfare Reform plans will ‘rob Scotland of over £54m a year’, new analysis has ‘confirmed’, Housing Minister Keith Brown claimed last week.
People who are judged to be ‘under occupying’ their home by 1 bedroom will have their housing benefit slashed by 14%. Where they are under occupying by 2 or more bedrooms the deduction is 25%. The new criteria for under occupation could mean that ill or disabled people, who use a spare bedroom for medical equipment, may all be affected.
People who are judged to be ‘under occupying’ their home by 1 bedroom will have their housing benefit slashed by 14%. Where they are under occupying by 2 or more bedrooms the deduction is 25%. The new criteria for under occupation could mean that ill or disabled people, who use a spare bedroom for medical equipment, may all be affected.
CLG: Housing Minister Grant Shapps has highlighted how the Government's action to get Britain building again will play a vital & central role in getting the country's economy on the road to recovery.
CLG: Communities with ambitions for economic growth have recently been rewarded with a cash boost of nearly £1bn to get their projects off the ground & improve their local areas. Ministers have confirmed the allocation of the £500m Growing Places Fund, designed to boost economic growth by getting the required infrastructure built to enable the creation of new homes & jobs and get stalled projects moving again.
The funding has been allocated to the country's 38 Local Enterprise Partnerships, who will now decide what to prioritise locally.
WAG: Transport Minister Carl Sargeant and Finance Minister Jane Hutt have announced that local authorities across Wales will now benefit from a new scheme to address pressures on road maintenance budgets, allowing them to free up resources and boost borrowing for investment in local highway improvement schemes.
WAG: The Welsh Government’s flagship support, guidance & skills development programme, Farming Connect, is helping farm businesses across Wales to be more efficient & to reduce input costs; Deputy Minister for Agriculture Alun Davies told the inaugural Farming Connect Spotlight conference recently.
ScotGov: Finance Secretary John Swinney has outlined the economic argument for an independent Scotland in an address to the David Hume Institute in Edinburgh.
DECC: As the big freeze grips the country, pensioners and the most vulnerable are being urged to take advantage of a government grant scheme to help make homes warmer. Letters have just landed on 675,000 doormats across England to raise awareness about the Warm Front scheme.
