Policy Statements and Initiatives

Directgov: The Home Secretary says that companies & customers miss out when not enough female candidates are appointed to boardroom roles in the UK.  Theresa May has promised to help more women get on the boards of top UK companies.
 
At present just 12.2% of FTSE 100 directors are women and a quarter of FTSE 100 companies don’t have a single woman board member, even though these companies could get a better understanding of what their customers want & need by adding women to their boards.
 
If you’re a woman and would like to find out about vacancies on the boards of UK public bodies, follow the link below. At the Public Appointments website, you can sign up to get information about boardroom vacancies in public bodies and search for current vacancies near you.
Press release ~ Find out about public board vacancies ~ What are public appointments? ~ Equalities Office ~ Representation in public life (Government Equalities Office)
 
DfE: Education Secretary, Michael Gove has announced ‘another step in the lifting of the bureaucratic burden on heads and teachers’.  The school Self Evaluation Form (SEF) process takes days out of heads’ time and can cost schools tens of thousands of pounds.  The Secretary of State has asked Ofsted to ditch it.  
 
The SEF asks teachers & heads to collect and verify facts & figures about their school in preparation for their Ofsted inspection.  Headteachers say it can take many long hours to fill in and take teachers out of the classroom for extended periods.  It can run to over a 100 pages once it has been filled in.
Press release ~ Education Secretary letter to Christine Gilbert
 
ScotGov: Scotland's renewable electricity target for the next decade is being raised from 50% to 80% (by 2020) First Minister, Alex Salmond ,announced last week.
 
The Scottish Government has now calculated that significantly higher levels of renewables could be deployed by 2020 with little change to the current policy, planning or regulation framework in Scotland.  A separate study for industry body Scottish Renewables (published last week) reports similar conclusions.
Press release ~ Scottish Low Carbon Investment Conference ~ ScotGov: Information on renewable energy in Scotland ~ Scottish Renewables - the forum for Scotland's renewable energy industry ~ Industry Calls for Increased Renewables Targets ~ Scottish Enterprise: Offshore wind sector set to create 60 times more jobs in ten years
 
DfE: All young people should have the chance to learn an instrument, read music & receive top quality music education, Education Secretary Michael Gove said last week. Launching an independent review of music education, Mr Gove said broadening the access & opportunities young people have to experience & understand music is central to raising standards.
 
Research shows that quality music education improves behaviour, attention & concentration and has a hugely positive affect on numeracy & language skills.  Giving all young people the best possible music education will help the Government achieve its twin aims of driving up standards and reducing the attainment gap.
Press release ~ Full remit of the review ~ Letter from the Secretary of State to Darren Henley
Facing the Future...find out more