Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
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The Department for Business, Innovation and 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)[1].
Ministers for BIS
Ministers as of 21 May 2010.
- Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills: Vince Cable MP[2][3]
- Minister of State for Business and Enterprise: Mark Prisk MP[2][3]
- Minister of State for Universities and Science: David Willetts MP (also attends cabinet meetings)[2][3]
- Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning: John Hayes MP[2][3]
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs: Edward Davey MP[2][3]
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (joint with DCMS): The Hon. Ed Vaizey MP[2]
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills: Baroness Wilcox[2][3]
Responsibilities
The Department is responsible for business regulation, trade, gathering economic statistics, higher education and research, including science.[4]
Devolution
Economic policy is mostly devolved but several important policy areas are reserved to Westminster. Higher education policy is mostly devolved. Reserved and excepted matters are outlined below:
Scotland [5]
- telecommunications
- postal services
- intellectual property
- import and export control
- business associations
- insolvency
- competition
- customer protection
- product standards, safety and liability
- weights and measures
- research councils
- outer space
- time
The Scottish Government Economy and Education Directorates handle devolved economic and higher education policy respectively.
- telecommunications
- postal services
- intellectual property
- import and export controls, external trade
- units of measurement
- consumer safety in relation to goods
- outer space
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) is the main government department responsible for economic policy in Northern Ireland.
The Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) is responsible for further and higher education policy.
Wales
Under the Welsh devolution settlement, specific policy areas are transferred to the National Assembly for Wales rather than reserved to Westminster.
References
- ^ Number10: Changes to the machinery of Government
- ^ a b c d e f g "Her Majesty's Government". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f "Ministers". Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
- ^ About BIS: Objectives (Sidebar: Our policy areas)
- ^ Scotland Act 1998, Schedule 5, Part II
- ^ Northern Ireland Act 1998, Schedule 3
- ^ Northern Ireland Act 1998, Schedule 2
External links
- Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) official website
Precursor departments: