Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills was a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It was created by the Gordon Brown premiership on 5 June 2009 by the merger of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. It was disbanded by the Theresa May premiership on the creation of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 14 July 2016.
Secretaries of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
The Permanent Secretary was Sir Martin Donnelly.Responsibilities
Some policies apply to England alone due to devolution, while others are not devolved and therefore apply to other nations of the United Kingdom. The department was responsible for UK Government policy in the following areas:- business regulation and support
- company law
- competition
- consumer affairs
- corporate governance
- employment relations
- export licensing
- further education
- higher education
- innovation
- insolvency
- intellectual property
- outer space
- postal affairs
- regional and local economic development
- science and research
- skills
- trade
- training
Devolution
Scotland
Reserved matters:
- Competition
- Customer protection
- Import and export control
- Insolvency
- Intellectual property
- Outer space
- Postal services
- Product standards, safety and liability
- Research councils
- Telecommunications
- Time
- Business associations
- Weights and measures in relation to goods
Northern Ireland
Reserved matters:
- Consumer safety in relation to goods
- Import and export controls, external trade
- Intellectual property
- Postal services
- Telecommunications
- Units of measurement
- outer space
- Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment
- Department for Employment and Learning
Under the Welsh devolution settlement, specific policy areas are transferred to the Welsh Government rather than reserved to Westminster.