Policy Statements and Initiatives
ScotGov: A blueprint to streamline the scoping, planning & consenting of offshore renewables developments was published last week. Its recommendations will now be taken forward by Marine Scotland, SNH and other regulatory/advisory bodies.
ScotGov: A new campaign aimed at encouraging Scots to think about the health effects of regularly drinking above the recommended alcohol guidelines was launched last week. The Scottish Government’s Alcohol Behaviour Change is this year encouraging women to ‘Drop a Glass Size’ in 2012.
WAG: A £4m investment to create job opportunities & thriving local businesses by revitalising town centres in North East Wales has received the green light, Deputy Minister for European Programmes, Alun Davies, has announced. The scheme is backed with £3m from the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government. Further funding will come from the local authorities.
The funding boost will mean that Flintshire and Wrexham Councils regeneration plans for their towns will be stepped up to improve the appearance of the town centres including Buckley, Connah's Quay, Flint, Holywell, Mold, Queensferry, Saltney, and Shotton as well as enhancing other public spaces.
CLG: Liverpoolhas become the first city to agree new powers through the City Deals programme, the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg and Cities Minister Greg Clark announced recently. This landmark deal will create a new enterprise zone near the city centre, provide powers to help get young unemployed people into work and give greater control over land for redevelopment and help build twelve new secondary schools.
City Deals are being negotiated with a number of England's cities. Instead of being presented with a set menu of measures decided in Whitehall, each city is now able to specify the particular powers they need to meet local needs and priorities.
BIS: The Government has announced a £4.5m fund for England’s biggest cities & colleges to work together to boost adult skills across the country. The City Skills Fund will be available to the 8 core cities in England (plus London), and their surrounding local enterprise partnership (LEP) areas.
ScotGov: Details of how new budget allocations will be spent were unveiled by Finance Secretary John Swinney in the Scottish Parliament last week.
BIS: A new Foresight project investigating how to improve anticipation of & resilience to disasters has been announced by the Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir John Beddington.
The project ‘Improving Future Disaster Anticipation and Resilience’ will identify actions (by the end of 2012) that could be taken within the next 10 years to reduce the impacts of disasters arising from hazards up to the year 2040.
The project ‘Improving Future Disaster Anticipation and Resilience’ will identify actions (by the end of 2012) that could be taken within the next 10 years to reduce the impacts of disasters arising from hazards up to the year 2040.
DCLG: A fund of up to £250m to help support councils to deliver better, more environmentally friendly weekly bin collections for residents is now open.
BIS: The Government & industry is calling on businesses & public organisations to pay suppliers on time and for small firms to pursue those who put them at risk by delaying.
DEFRA: A £28m Fund to clean up England’s rivers and encourage local wildlife to flourish has been announced by Environment Minister Richard Benyon.
WAG: People with an interest in the Welshlanguage are being invited to apply for brand new roles to help shape the future of the language (closing date is 2 March 2012).
MOD: There has been various media speculation that British troops face only one more summer of major combat operations in Afghanistan after reports of comments made by the US Defence Secretary and French President.
There has been no change to the strategy agreed by ISAF nations in Lisbon in 2010: the process of security transition will continue, with international forces gradually handing over responsibility to the Afghan National Security Forces through to the end of 2014.
BIS: Businesses & training providers can bid for a share of £6m from the Higher Apprenticeship Fund, which will support the development of thousands of new Higher Apprenticeships in sectors including aerospace, energy and renewable technologies. Bidding will close on 26 April 2012.
DfT: Transport Minister Norman Baker has announced £15m of new funding for sustainable travel projects across the country, aimed at promoting economic growth and cutting carbon.
WAG: A Welsh Government campaign to protect children from the harmful effect of second hand smoke in cars has begun. The ‘Fresh Start Wales’ campaign calls on parents and other carers to pledge to keep their cars smoke free, and thereby protect their children from the health risks associated with second hand smoke in a confined space.
DCLG: The Communities and Local Government Secretary, Eric Pickles, has announced £3bn of funding for the Greater London Authority for housing and regeneration in London.
DH: In the future, doctors, nurses and other health professionals could control almost £65bn of NHS funding, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has announced.
DCMS: Ballot boxes will open on 3 May 2012 for voters to decide on directly elected mayors for England's largest cities, Ministers confirmed last week. The Government believes that elected mayors can provide cities with the strong, visible leadership that will help them prosper nationally and internationally.
ScotGov: Plans to support teachers to improve learning outcomes for children & young people have been announced in response to the McCormac review of teaching employment.
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