Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
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).[1]
Controversies
Spinning Fukushima nuclear meltdown
|
This article is part of the Nuclear Spin project of Spinwatch. |
In June 2011, BIS was involved in a public relations strategy to play down the Fukushima nuclear accident before the full extent of the radiation leak was known.
The Guardian revealed that a BIS official emailed the Nuclear Industry Association and nuclear companies on 13 March 2011, two days after the disaster. The official argued it was not as bad as the 'dramatic' TV pictures made it seem – even though two explosions at reactors on the site were yet to happen. The official said that if companies sent in their comments, they could be incorporated into briefs to ministers and government statements.
On 7 April 2011, the Department for Energy and Climate Change's Office for Nuclear Development invited companies to attend a meeting at the NIA's headquarters in London. The aim was 'to discuss a joint communications and engagement strategy aimed at ensuring we maintain confidence among the British public on the safety of nuclear power stations and nuclear new-build policy in light of recent events at the Fukushima nuclear power plant'.[2]
People
Ministers
- 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[3] - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Intellectual property
Civil servants
The Permanent Secretary is Martin Donnelly, following the departure of Simon Fraser CMG, on 26 August 2010.
Chief Scientific Adviser
- Professor John Perkins CBE
Subsidiary elements
Non-ministerial department
Office of Fair Trading | K Trade & Investment | Competition and Markets Authority
Executive agency
Companies House | UK Space Agency | The Insolvency Service | National Measurement Office | Skills Funding Agency | Intellectual Property Office | Met Office | Land Registry | Ordnance Survey
Executive non-departmental public body
Higher Education Funding Council for England | Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service | Arts and Humanities Research Council | British Hallmarking Council | Construction Industry Training Board | Economic and Social Research Council | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council | Engineering Construction Industry Training Board | Medical Research Council | Natural Environment Research Council | Office for Fair Access | Science and Technology Facilities Council | Student Loans Company | Technology Strategy Board | UK Atomic Energy Authority | UK Commission for Employment and Skills | Capital for Enterprise Limited | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council | Competition Service | Competition Commission | Consumer Focus
Advisory non-departmental public body
Council for Science and Technology | Low Pay Commission | Industrial Development Advisory Board | Land Registration Rule Committee | Regulatory Policy Committee | Export Guarantees Advisory Council
Tribunal non-departmental public body
Competition Appeal Tribunal | Central Arbitration Committee | Copyright Tribunal | Insolvency Practitioners Tribunal
Other
Certification Office | Office of Manpower Economics | UK Green Investment Bank | Groceries Code Adjudicator | Government Office for Science
Website
Official: http://www.gov.uk/bis
See also:
Precursor departments:
- Department for Business and Regulatory Reform (BERR) Archived Website
- Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) Archived Website
Notes
- ↑ Number 10, Prime Minister's Office: Changes to the machinery of Government Friday 5 June 2009
- ↑ Rob Edwards, Revealed: British government's plan to play down Fukushima, The Guardian, 30 June 2011
- ↑ The Viscount Younger of Leckie appointed as Business Minister
