Policy Statements and Initiatives
DCMS: Event organisers need to do much more to ensure that tickets get to real fans instead of expensive resale websites, Culture Secretary Andy Burnham has said. The Government is looking to event organisers, promoters and their ticket agents to work together to find new ways of making sure that tickets are properly distributed without fans routinely paying over-the-odds.
The Government will now:
* push for a voluntary agreement that tickets for 'crown jewel' events will not be sold on the secondary market
* work with the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR) to deliver a new code of principles.
Press release ~ Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR) ~ Select Committee report on ticket touting ~ Government's response
DIUS: The next steps in developing the system for allocating more than £1.4bn in funding to universities for research have been announced by John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills.
The current system for assessing research, the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), depends on universities submitting research outputs to subject panels for peer review. The Research Excellence Framework (REF), which will come fully into effect in 2014, is intended to make this exercise more statistically based and less cumbersome for academics.
Press release ~ RAE 2008 ~ RAE review website ~ Research Excellence Framework (REF) ~ 10-Year Science and Innovation Investment Framework: Next Steps ~ Academic research and university research in the UK - from HERO
WAG: Wales could have a larger fisheries zone, with more of the seas around Wales under the authority of the Welsh Assembly Government, Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones announced recently. Currently the Welsh Assembly Government is responsible for fisheries up to 12 nautical miles from the shore.
The proposal by the Minister is for a Welsh Fisheries Zone that will give responsibility for fisheries management and enforcement functions off the Welsh coast, up to the median lines between Wales, Northern Ireland, England, Isle of Man and the Republic of Ireland. Median line is the half way point between two coastlines, for example between Wales and Ireland. This area is currently the responsibility of Defra.
Press release ~ Environment Agency - Welsh Fisheries ~ WAG - Fisheries ~ Overarching Welsh Fisheries Strategy ~ WAG - Sea Fisheries Committees
ScotParl: An inquiry into child poverty in Scotland has been launched with a call for evidence by the Local Government and Communities Committee. With an estimated 90,000 children living in severe & persistent poverty in Scotland, the committee inquiry will focus on identifying solutions and scrutinising child poverty targets – See ‘In the News Section’ for more information
WAG: The Welsh Assembly Government launched its new Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Strategic Action Plan at the 3rd Wales International Autism Conference organised by Autism Cymru in Cardiff – See ‘In the News’ Section for more information.
