Business & Growth

£950million for local economies and jobs - The second round of the Government’s Regional Growth Fund will help create and safeguard more than 200,000 jobs across England.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will shortly announce the successful bids for the second round of the £1.4 billion Fund.

The National Challenge: SME Exporting and Growth: Lord Green, Minister for Trade and Investment and Mark Prisk, Minister for Business and Enterprise are hosting an inaugural business event on 10 November to encourage export growth and ensure businesses are financially positioned to take advantage of new opportunities.

SME intermediaries can get involved online by contributing via Twitter and by embedding content from the event in their own websites, including live streaming of the Prime Minister’s event speech and live login via CoveritLive.

Further details of how to get involved will be posted on the BIS website in the coming week.

Trade & International Business

UK- Singapore trade partnership: Agreements to strengthen economic and business ties and share UK expertise in healthcare education were announced today by Business Secretary Vince Cable, whilst on a trade diplomacy visit to Singapore.

Business Secretary visits South-east Asia:  Vince Cable is on a week long visit to South East Asia to deepen trade ties and open up further opportunities for British companies to invest in this dynamic region and support UK growth.

Higher Education & Skills

UCAS Admission Process Review: Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts has responded to the UCAS Admission Process Review consultation.

Student Finance Film: BIS has launched a new film featuring year 13 students, recent graduates and Martin Lewis of moneysavingexpert.com discussing the facts of the new student finance system.

Skills Funding Agency Review: Skills Minister John Hayes has announced a review of the Skills Funding Agency and the statutory post of Chief Executive of Skills Funding.

Regulation

Challenge for better regulators: Business and Enterprise Minister Mark Prisk has called for a more mature relationship between business and regulators. He also talked about the need for a more accountable and transparent system of local regulation and a simpler regulatory landscape.

Consumer & Competition

Competition Commission appointments: Consumer minister Edward Davey has announced the appointment of Simon Polito, Professor Martin Cave and Professor Alasdair Smith as new Deputy Chairmen to the Competition Commission.

Government guide

Cabinet Office Manual: The Cabinet Office has published The Cabinet Manual on its website, which gives an overview of the laws, conventions and rules on the operation of Government.

Get Involved

BIS currently has 7 consultations open for comment, including:

• Mutualisation of the Post Office
• Financial Reporting Council Reform
• Executive remuneration discussion paper