283 Made in Britain: Governance and policy


Department for Business,


Innovation and Skills One of the newest government departments works to aid economic growth through education, research and enterprise


Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. Despite being only six years’ old in its current form, BIS’s


T


roots stretch back as far as 1621, when James I directed the Privy Council of England to establish Te Board of Trade to investigate the causes of a decline in trade and consequent financial difficulties. Over the subsequent centuries the department has faced a range of challenges, from the care of the colonies in the 18th and 19th centuries to clothes rationing in the Second World War; from dealing with insolvency to calibrating weights and measures. Since it was first named the Department for Trade and


Industry (DTI) in 1970, the ministry has gained and lost policy areas, such as energy, as its portfolio was recalibrated under successive governments. However, it retains its core purpose to this day with the Secretary of State also carrying out the role of President of the Board of Trade.


Engine of growth Today, BIS is the department responsible for economic growth. Te department invests in skills and education to promote trade, boost innovation and help people to start and grow a business. BIS also protects consumers and reduces the impact of regulation.


he Department for Business, Innovation and Skills was officially created on 5 June 2009 by the merger of the


“Our focus is to connect people to opportunity and prosperity across the country”


“In BIS, we work on three big areas of responsibility:


business, innovation and skills,” says Permanent Secretary Martin Donnelly. “Our focus is to connect people to opportunity and prosperity across the country, and modernise the UK economy.” BIS has several key responsibilities. It works with further and


higher education providers to give students the skills they need to compete in a global employment market. It supports innovation to develop the UK’s science and research industry. It also ensures that consumer law is fair for both consumers and businesses, and that consumers know their rights and are able to use them effectively. It’s primary role, however, is to support British businesses to


increase productivity and compete anywhere in the world. Part of this is through better regulation—both cutting the amount of regulation and ensuring that what there is is easy to understand, thereby helping businesses save time and money, and become more efficient.


A national department Te department has around 2,500 staff who work for BIS plus around 500 more who work for UK Trade & Investment in the UK. It also has 40 partner organisations, including eight executive agencies. As well as its headquarters in Whitehall, London, there are also BIS offices in Sheffield, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester, Nottingham, Watford and Runcorn in Cheshire, and two offices in County Durham (Darlington and Billingham). Recent BIS achievements include delivering more than two


million apprenticeships; supporting around 38,000 businesses through the British Business Bank; and establishing a catapult network to keep the country at the cutting edge of science and innovation. It has cut the annual cost of domestic regulation by £2 billion; invested more than £1 billion in businesses through the Regional Growth Fund; generated over £3 billion of private investment; and safeguarded over 100,000 jobs. All this was achieved while the department reduced its administrative overheads by 50 per cent since 2010, and improved the diversity of its leadership to deal with the challenges of tomorrow. — www.gov.uk/bis


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