Industry News
BIS: Figures released recently show that more than three quarters of the budget for the Government’s vehicle scrappage scheme has been used up. Funding for less than 82,000 new vehicles orders is left for consumers to take advantage of under the scheme, as it nears its end.
As the scheme enters its final stages the Department for Business will allocate order quotas to manufacturers. The quota system will be based on brand popularity and is intended to help ensure a smooth closing of the scheme.
Newswire – CABE: More than half of urban local authorities took on green space apprentices in 2009, offering a boost to the Skills to grow strategy addressing the shortage of skills in the green space sector. Thanks to Communities and Local Government grants of £1m, an initial 60 green space apprenticeships were awarded in March 2009. Grants have now been offered for a further 175 apprentices in urban local authorities.
CABE Space offers online guidance on running good apprenticeship schemes, including inspiring films following the progress of individual apprentices. The CABE Space leaders programme runs for the fifth time in February 2010, training 81 green space managers in leadership & management skills. While sector skills council Lantra has created a new horticultural apprenticeship framework offering a ‘pathway’ tailored to people working in public green spaces.
Press release ~ CABE: online guidance on running good apprenticeship schemes ~ Lantra: Horticultural apprenticeship framework ~ Skills to grow strategy ~ GROW horticultural careers initiative ~ Landscape Institute: I want to be a landscape architect campaign ~14-19 environmental and land-based diploma ~ IPGS website ~ Historic and botanic gardens bursary scheme ~ Campaign for school gardening ~ DCSF: Diploma employers champions’ network ~ CABE: Space leaders programme ~ APSE horticultural apprentice of the year award
CO: A new website has been launched to the public which gives anyone who wants to use it free access to government data in one place. The site called data.gov.uk contains more than 2,500 sets of data from across government. All of the data is non-personal and in a format that can be reused by any individual or business to create innovative new software tools, such as applications about house prices, local amenities and services, or access to local hospitals.
Press release ~ Data.gov.uk ~ Policy options for geographic information from Ordnance Survey: Consultation (closes on 17 March 2010) ~ Newspaper club ~ Traffic counts
NA: The Government is offering a new licence model to re-use government data, working with the Creative Commons teams in the UK to replace the existing Click-Use Licence. Adopting a non-transactional Creative Commons approach to licensing the re-use of government information was promised in Putting the Frontline First: Smarter Government.
It is key to supporting new information initiatives, such as the beta release of data.gov.uk, also launched last week, to promote transparency, public service improvement and economic growth.
The National Archives, which oversees the re-use of government information, has put together a simple & enabling set of terms & conditions for the site. This means that the data available through data.gov.uk will be re-usable both commercially & non-commercially. These terms and conditions have been aligned so that they are interoperable with any Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Licence.
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