Policy Statements and Initiatives

BIS: The Business Secretary has announced that he is to set up an Economic Response Task Force as a result of the ongoing review by Bombardier Transportation of its UK rail operations and he has started a 90-day consultation process on proposed job losses at Derby.
 
The Task Force will be headed up by Margaret Gildea OBE, who runs Organisation Change Solutions, to mitigate the economic impact of job losses at Bombardier, its supply chain and the local communities.  It will draw on representatives from Derby City Council, Derby City College and the Skills Funding Agency.  Jobcentre Plus will also deploy its Rapid Response Service to support workers that will be affected.
Press release & links
 
CLG: 29 proposals will compete for the final 10 enterprise zone spots, Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles announced last week, following the deadline for second wave applications. Local enterprise partnerships across the country have put forward locations for enterprise zones that they believe have the potential to deliver growth for the whole area.  The 10 zones selected will benefit from simplified planning rules, super-fast broadband and tax breaks for businesses to promote growth.
Press release ~ Enterprise Zones: Application form and guidance May 2011 ~ Enterprise Zone Prospectus ~ Local enterprise partnerships
 
BIS: Science Minister David Willetts has secured agreement to reduce costs for UK operators of satellites, paving the way for cheaper access to space.
Press release & links
 
WAG: Carl Sargeant, Minister for Local Government & Communities, has set out the major changes the Welsh Government proposes to make to its Communities First programme from April 2012. The programme will keep its community focus but, from April 2012, there will be a much stronger emphasis on tackling poverty and contributing to the Welsh Government’s wider anti-poverty agenda.
Press release & links
 
HO: A comprehensive programme of exercises to test the government, police and other key agencies’ readiness for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games has been announced by Home Secretary, Theresa May.
Press release & links
 
CLG: Bob Neill has announced next steps after the consultation on the future of fire & rescue control centres throughout England.  This follows the cancellation of the FiReControl project which aimed to replace 46 local control centres with nine regional centres.
Press release & links ~ LGA response
 
WAG: Projects in Cardiff & Blaenau Ffestiniog have become the first recipients of the Welsh Government’s new grant scheme for action on sustainable living. Launched in April 2011, the scheme supports community groups & projects that help people make lifestyle or behaviour changes for more climate-friendly living.
Press release & links
 
BIS: The Government has agreed to transfer land & property assets owned by Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) to the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).  The HCA will own the assets & liabilities, with local communities involved in decisions about future development plans to maximise the benefits to economic growth and regeneration in their areas.  The transfer is currently planned to take effect on 19 September 2011.
 
The portfolio of land & property assets to be transferred will include income generating assets which will provide investment funds for those assets which need further development.  HCA will assume the legal title of these assets because of their specialist expertise in developing & managing land and property.
 
Under a similar but separate stewardship arrangement, BIS will contract HCA to manage 3 of its nationally important technology parks: AnstyPark, Coventry; the AdvancedManufacturingPark, Rotherham; and SPark, Bristol.  These sites have been identified as assets of national importance to be retained within central Government in order to be developed further to support investments in & and technology.
Press release
 
HO: Damian Green last week explained reforms the government is making to the student visa system to stop abuse and bring net migration down to sustainable levels. These reforms include an announcement last month that the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) and the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) will inspect & review educational standards in private institutions which are offering further education.
Press release & links
 
DfE: Writing in The Times last week, Children’s Minister, Tim Loughton, has announced that Martin Narey will be appointed as the new Ministerial Adviser on Adoption. The Government is clear that adoption should be a much bigger priority for all local authorities and that more needs to be done to reduce delays in the system, speed up the time it takes to place children with families and make the system truly fit for purpose.
Press release & links
 
10DS: The Prime Minister has committed to publishing key data on the National Health Service, schools, criminal courts & transport, which will ‘reveal clinical achievements & prescribing data by individual GP practices, the performance of hospital teams in treating lung cancer & other key healthcare conditions, the effectiveness of schools at teaching pupils across a range of subjects, criminal sentencing by each court, and data on rail timetables, rail service performance, roadworks, current road conditions, car parks & cycle routes in an open format for use by all’.
Press release & links
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