In this document the Government sets out a programme of action designed to position the UK as a long-term leader in communications, creating an industrial framework that will fully harness digital technology. The UK's digital dividend will transform the way business operates, enhance the delivery of public services, stimulate communications infrastructure ready for next-generation distribution and preserve Britain's status as a global hub for media and entertainment. This approach seeks to maximise the digital opportunities for all citizens. The report contains: (1) an analysis of the levels of digital participation, skills and access needed for the digital future, with a plan for increasing participation, and more coherent public structures to deal with it; (2) an analysis of communications infrastructure capabilities; (3) plans for the future growth of creative industries, proposals for a legal and regulatory framework for intellectual property and proposals on skills and investment support and innovation; (4) a restatement of the need for specific market intervention in the UK content market, with implications and challenges for the BBC and C4 Corporation and other forms of independent and suitably funded news; (5) an analysis of the skills, research and training markets, and what supply side issues need addressing for a fully functioning digital economy; (6) a framework for digital security and digital safety at international and national levels and recognition that a world of high speed connectivity needs a digital framework not an analogue one; (7) a review of what all of this means for the Government and how digital governance in the information age demands new structures, new safeguards, and new data management, access and transparency rules.
This White Paper represents the ambition of Government to promote innovation across society as a tool to develop and generate economic prosperity and improve the quality of life throughout the UK. The policies include proposals about how Government can use procurement and regulation to promote innovation in business and make the public sector and public services more innovative. The White Paper is in 10 chapters: The role of government; demanding innovation; supporting business innovation; the need for a strong and innovative research base; international innovation; innovative people; public sector innovation; innovative places and the innovation nation: next steps. An Annex sets out the development of this White Paper. Published alongside the White Paper is 'Implementing "The Race to the Top": Lord Sainsbury's review of Government's science and innovation' (ISBN 9780108507175). Lord Sainsbury's review published in October 2007 (HM Treasury, ISBN 9781845323561, http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/5/E/sainsbury_review051007.pdf) and also relevant is the 2008 Enterprise Strategy (http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/E/3/bud08_enterprise_524.pdf)
In its final report the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) recommended a package of measures, consisting of ring-fencing vital banking services and increasing banks' loss-absorbency. The Government strongly supports the ICB's objectives and dual approach. The Government agrees that vital banking services - in particular, the taking of retail deposits - should only be provided by 'ring-fenced' banks', and that these banks should be prohibited from undertaking certain investment banking activities. On increased loss-absorbency, also supported are the ICB recommendations for higher equity requirements for large ring-fenced banks, a minimum leverage ratio, loss-absorbing debt, insured depositor preference and higher levels of loss-absorbing capacity for banks that are difficult to resolve. With regards to the principle that systemically important banks hold a minimum about of loss-absorbing capacity on a group-wide basis, however, the requirement should not apply to non-UK operations where it can be shown that those operations to do not pose a risk to UK financial stability. The Government also believes that depositor preference needs further analysis and consultation. On competition, the Government also strongly supports all the ICB recommendations. The Government estimates the aggregate private costs to UK banks at £3.5bn - £8bn, producing a gross reduction in GDP of £0.8bn - £1.8bn. Against these costs though should be set the potentially much larger benefits with the ICB's recommendations yielding an estimated incremental economic benefit of £9.5bn per annum. Significantly too the Government wants to see relevant legislation completed by the end of this Parliament in May 2015 as opposed to the ICBs recommended 2019
This White Paper sets out proposals to tackle the effects of the recession and to get back to full employment. Its aims are to give young people a chance to a better start to their working lives and to help more people back to work and make sure they are better off in work, to keep them in work and to build a fair and family-friendly labour market
The UK has the potential to be world leader in innovation. The strength of UK universities and the wider knowledge base is a national asset being the most productive in the G8. But the challenges are great. To succeed in the global innovation economy, the UK must strengthen its ability to accelerate the commercialization of emerging technologies, and to capture the value chains linked to these. We have already made clear our commitment by maintaining the annual £4.6 billion budget for science and research programmes, with £150 million each year support university-business interaction. The UK's universities are increasingly collaborating with each other and with external organization to develop and commercialise knowledge, last year securing over £3 billion from external sources. This paper outlines a series of measures to make it easier for individuals, businesses and the public sector to innovate alone or in partnership. As part of a package of support the Government is relaunching the popular Smart brand and will increase the funding to the Technology Strategy Board. Research Councils UK will establish a principles-based framework for the treatment and submission of multi-institutional funding bids. Also the Government will continue to look for other ways to encourage more relationships between universities and business and will work with NESTA to establish a price centre to run, design and facilitate new inducement prices. The Government has also commissioned independent groups of academics and publishers to review the availability of published research, and to develop action plans for making this freely available. It will also create an Open Data Institute to develop semantic web technologies.
Building Engagement, Building Futures sets out the Government's strategy to improve the opportunities for young people so they gain the skills they need to secure an apprenticeship or employment. It includes radical reforms to schools, vocational education, skills and welfare provision, and has five priorities for action: (1) Raising attainment in school so that young people have the skills to compete in the global economy; (2) Helping local partners provide services that support all young people, putting the UK on track to achieve full participation for 16-17 year olds by 2015. (3) Encouraging employers to offer more high quality apprenticeships and work experience places; (4) Ensuring that work pays and giving young people the personalised support they need to find it, through Universal Credit, the Work Programme and the Get Britain Working measures; (5) Putting in place a new Youth Contract worth almost £1 billion over the next three years.
The Government's response is to back the majority of the Panel's conclusions and work on their recommendations has already begun. The report stated that elitism in the professions and a lack of focus on careers in schools mean that bright young people from middle class as well as lower income backgrounds are being shut out from professional jobs. The Panel chaired by Alan Milburn MP, concluded that without action to address Britain's closed shop mentality, tomorrow's generation of talented young people will miss out on a new wave of social mobility. There were over 80 recommendations in the final report with social mobility to be the top social policy priority. This response includes plans to raise aspirations by focusing on four factors that impact on people's life chances: the care and development of children in their early years, the quality of our schools, continued and high quality education and training post 16 and the skills our workforce.
This action plan is the UK's national implementation plan for the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). It embodies a commitment to protect human rights by helping UK companies understand and manage human rights. The UNGPs are structured around three pillars: the State duty to protect human rights; the corporate responsibility to respect human rights; and access to remedy. This action plan follows that structure and outlines how the Government has responded to the UNGPs and details plans for further work.
This update is based on the five themes in the original September 2006 inquiry report: antisemitic incidents, antisemitic discourse, sources of contemporary antisemitism, antisemitism on campus and addressing antisemitism. The All Party Inquiry acknowledges that antisemitism remains a factor in the life of the Anglo-Jewish community. The police and other bodies have become better at dealing with violence, poisonous threats and the desecration of synagogues and cemeteries. It has not been easy to make such good progress where antisemitism is less explicit and where there is lazy acceptance of Jewish stereotypes. The number of antisemitic incidents in the UK remains a cause for concern. The 2009 figure was abnornally high due to reactions to the action taken by Israel in Gaza. The Government is clear that it is unacceptable that feelings about the conflict in the Middle East should create a climate of opinion where British Jews are attacked and threatened both verbally and physically. While recognising that the events in the Middle East will impact on other communities, this can never justify hostility towards citizens of this country. A key success has been the agreement by the Department for Education to fund the counter-terrorism security needs of Jewish faith schools within the state sector. Also the agreement for all police forces to record antisemitic hate crimes and publication for the first time of the official statistics. There has also been progress in tackling antisemitism on the internet. However there are still two areas which remain of concern and a need of further work: hate material on the internet and antisemitism and political tensions on campus and to ensure continuing attention the Government commits the Cross-Government Working Group to Tackle Antisemitism to meeting quarterly to monitor progress.
Section 1 of the Child Poverty Act 2012 requires the Government to report on whether or not the target to reduce the number of children living in relative income poverty by half by 2012/11 from a 1998/99 base was met. This report finds that the target was not met: although the number of children living in relative income poverty reduced to 2.3 million, that figure is 600,000 short of the number required to meet the target. Despite some progress, not enough parents were able to move into work and progress in work. Work did not pay as well as it should, and the proportion of poor children who came from working households increased. Not all poor families received the financial support they were entitled to because the system was complicated and unclear. The fact that the target was not met, despite significant financial transfers, demonstrates that poverty does not have easy answers. Whilst income matters, child poverty will not be eradicated by income transfers alone. The root causes of poverty must be tackled: worklessness, poor educational attainment, health and high levels of personal debt. The Government is setting up a new Child Poverty and Social Mobility Commission to hold Government and other institutions to account on progress in improving social mobility and reducing child poverty. The Child Poverty Strategy will: intervene early to support children and strengthen families; drive up educational achievement and make work pay.
The Coalition Government is committed to ending child poverty. This consultation document asks how the government can best reflect the reality of child poverty using a multidimensional measure. The most recent child poverty statistics revealed a large reduction in the number of children living below the relative poverty threshold. However, this was largely due to a fall in the median income nationally that pushed the poverty line down. Absolute poverty remained unchanged and the children who were "moved out" of poverty were in fact no better off than before. This document considers a number of potential dimensions: income and material deprivation, worklessness, unmanageable debt, poor housing, parental skill level, access to quality education, family stability and parental health. This consultation seeks views on the specifics of each dimension as well as whether the government should include other dimensions in a multidimensional measure of child poverty along with technical questions about how to build a measure
In January 2009, the Government established High Speed Two Ltd (HS2 Ltd) to consider the options for a new high speed rail network in Britain, starting with a costed and deliverable proposal for a new line from London to Birmingham. HS2 Ltd's report concludes that there is a strong business case for a new London to Birmingham line, and sets out detailed recommendations for the design of its route, together with a range of options for how it might be extended to serve other conurbations. The Government has evaluated these proposals in respect of their costs and benefits for enhancing capacity and connectivity in a sustainable way, which is its key strategic objective for inter-city transport. It has also considered other realistic options for meeting the UK's inter-urban capacity needs over the next 30 years, including carrying out a detailed analysis of the potential costs and benefits of major improvements to existing rail and road networks. This Command Paper sets out both the Government's response to HS2 Ltd's recommendations and its assessment of the case for an initial core British high speed rail network. The Government proposes to begin formal public consultation in the autumn, to cover three key issues: HS2 Ltd's detailed recommendations for a high speed line from London to the West Midlands; the strategic case for high speed rail in the UK; the Government's proposed strategy for an initial core high speed rail network.
This report examines the contribution that corporate reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions makes to the UK meeting its climate change objectives. Current research shows that businesses are considering their environmental impact at the highest level. 62 per cent of FTSE all-share companies reported quantified figures on climate change or energy use in their 2009 annual reports. Measuring emissions, then reporting, enables enabling target-setting which leads to emissions reductions. There is significant and growing interest from investors in GHG emissions data and investor pressure is one of the main drivers for reporting. Though there are costs in the reporting process, the research found additional benefits for companies in areas such as reputation, brand value, improving investor relations and being able to respond to shareholder requests.
One year ago the Department for Work and Pensions published the White Paper, "Social Justice: transforming lives" (Cm.8314, ISBN 9780101831420) which set out a new vision for supporting the most disadvantaged families and individuals across the UK. One year on, the Government believes achieving social justice requires a sweeping cultural change, spanning not only families and individuals, but also public services and the way the Government itself funds them. The publication consists of six chapters: Chapter 1: Supporting families; Chapter 2: Keeping young people on track; Chapter 3: The importance of work; Chapter 4: Supporting the most disadvantaged adults; Chapter 5: Delivering social justice; Chapter 6: Conclusion.
This report, made by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, sets out the determination for the financial year 2011/12 of the amount of Revenue Support Grant for that year, what amount of the grant he proposes to pay to receiving authorities and what amount of the grant he proposes to pay to the specified body. The report also sets out the basis on which the Secretary of State proposes to distribute among receiving authorities the amount which falls to be paid to such authorities for the year 2011/12 under Part V of the Local Government Finance Act 1988. It also sets out the specification of the amount arrived at under paragraph 9 of schedule 8 to the 1988 Act and, under paragraph 10 of that schedule, the basis on which the Secretary of State proposes to distribute among the receiving authorities the distributable amount for 2011/12
This white paper sets out proposals for a detailed programme of action to repair damage done to the environment in the past, and urges everyone to get involved in helping nature to flourish at all levels - from neighbourhoods to national parks. The plans are directly linked to the groundbreaking research in the National Ecosystem Assessment that showed the strong economic arguments for safeguarding and enhancing the natural environment. They also act on the recommendations of 'Making Space for Nature', a report into the state of England's wildlife sites, led by Professor John Lawton and published in September 2010, which showed that England's wildlife sites are fragmented and not able to respond to the pressures of climate change and other pressures we put on our land. Key measures proposed include: i) Reconnecting nature with New Nature Improvement Areas (NIAs) with a £7.5 million fund for 12 initial NIAs, biodiversity offsetting, New Local Nature Partnerships with £1 million available this year, phasing out peat, ii) Connecting people and nature for better quality of life with Green Areas Designation, better urban green spaces; more children experiencing nature by learning outdoors, strengthening local public health activities, the new environmental volunteering initiative "Muck in 4 Life" to improve places in towns and countryside for people and nature to enjoy and iii) Capturing and improving the value of nature with a Natural Capital Committee; an annual statement of green accounts for UK Plc, a business-led Task Force to expand the UK business opportunities from new products and services which are good for the economy and nature alike.
This report considers key company law developments during the year April 2005 to March 2006 and activities undertaken by the DTI, Companies House and the Insolvency Service to promote an effective corporate and insolvency framework in support of company enterprise. It also contains statistical tables including details of companies registered at Companies House, as well as removals from the Register, liquidations and legal proceedings, winding up orders and disqualification orders obtained during the year. This report should be read in conjunction with the annual reports from Companies House (HCP 1334, session 2005-06, ISBN 0102942064), and the Insolvency Service (HCP 1358, session 2005-06, ISBN 0102942706).
The annual DTI report on the development of the oil and gas resources of the UK is known in the industry as the 'Brown book'. This year's edition contains information on the UK upstream industry, with estimates of oil and gas reserves on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) and facts and figures on oil and gas exploration, development and production. It includes financial and economic information about the impact of oil and gas production on the UKCS and coverage of the offshore environmental regime. Appendices cover specific aspects of oil and of oil and gas development, such as licences issues, wells drilled, significant discoveries, oil and gas fields in production and under development, production statistics and expenditure by operators. There is a substantial section of coloured maps of oil and gas fields.
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