Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

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Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.png
Department overview
Formed June 5, 2009
Jurisdiction United Kingdom
Headquarters London, England
Annual budget £16.5 billion (current) & £1.3 billion (capital) for 2011-12 [1]
Minister responsible Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
Department executive Martin Donnelly, Permanent Secretary
Child agencies Companies House
HM Land Registry
Insolvency Service
Intellectual Property Office
Met Office
National Measurement Office
Ordnance Survey
Skills Funding Agency
UK Space Agency
UK Trade and Investment (with FCO)
Website
www.gov.uk/bis
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
the United Kingdom

The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) is a ministerial department of the United Kingdom Government created on 5 June 2009 by the merger of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR).[2]

Contents

Ministers [edit]

The BIS Ministers are as follows:[3]

Minister Rank Portfolio
The Rt Hon Dr Vincent Cable MP Secretary of State
President of the Board of Trade
Overall responsibility, business and banking
The Rt Hon David Willetts MP Minister of State Universities and science, innovation, space
Michael Fallon MP Minister of State Business and enterprise
Matthew Hancock MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (jointly with Department of Education) Further education, skills and lifelong learning
Lord Green Minister of State Trade and investment
Jo Swinson MP Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Employment relations, consumer and postal affairs
Lord Younger[4] Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Intellectual property
Key Conservative
Liberal Democrat

Lord Green works jointly between the department and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.[5]

The Permanent Secretary is Martin Donnelly, following the departure of Simon Fraser CMG, on 26 August 2010.

Responsibilities [edit]

The department is responsible for UK Government policy in the following areas:[3]

Some policies apply to England alone due to devolution, while others are not devolved and therefore apply to other nations of the United Kingdom.

Devolution [edit]

Economic policy is mostly devolved but several important policy areas are reserved to Westminster. Further and higher education policy is mostly devolved. Reserved and excepted matters are outlined below.

Scotland

Reserved matters:[6]

The Scottish Government Economy and Education Directorates handle devolved economic and further and higher education policy respectively.

Northern Ireland

Reserved matters:[7]

Excepted matter:[8]

The department's main counterparts are:[9]

Wales

Under the Welsh devolution settlement, specific policy areas are transferred to the Welsh Government rather than reserved to Westminster.

References [edit]

  1. ^ Budget 2011. London: HM Treasury. 2011. p. 48. Retrieved 30 December 2011. 
  2. ^ Prime Minister's Office: Changes to the machinery of Government[dead link]
  3. ^ a b "Cabinet Office List of Government Departments and Ministers: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills". Cabinetoffice.gov.uk. 2012-09-06. Retrieved 2012-12-04. 
  4. ^ "The Viscount Younger of Leckie appointed as Business Minister". BIS. Retrieved 2013-01-09. 
  5. ^ [1][dead link]
  6. ^ "Scotland Act 1998, Schedule 5, Part II". Opsi.gov.uk. Retrieved 2012-12-04. 
  7. ^ "Northern Ireland Act 1998, Schedule 3". Opsi.gov.uk. 1998-06-25. Retrieved 2012-12-04. 
  8. ^ "Northern Ireland Act 1998, Schedule 2". Opsi.gov.uk. 1998-06-25. Retrieved 2012-12-04. 
  9. ^ "Departments (Transfer and Assignment of Functions) Order (Northern Ireland) 1999". Opsi.gov.uk. 2012-10-05. Retrieved 2012-12-04. 

External links [edit]

Precursor departments: