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[This report is the] UK government's response to the Wilson review of business-university engagement. [It] sets out what the government will do to build on acknowledged strengths to create the best conditions for universities and businesses to work together to create prosperity over the next decade. [It] covers government initiatives to promote employability skills, research and innovation, work placements and internships, and university-business collaboration at the local level.

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Under the Equality Act 2010, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), as a public authority, is legally obliged to give due regard to equality issues when making policy decisions - the public sector equality duty, also called the general equality duty. Analysing the effects on equality of these regulations through developing an equality impact assessment is one method of ensuring that thinking about equality issues is built into the policy process, and informs Ministers' decision making. The general equality duty covers the following protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

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[This document] provides the supporting analysis for the Higher Education White Paper. [It] summarises a wide range of evidence and highlights the importance of a well-functioning higher education (HE) system. [It] covers the role of higher education in UK economic and social development, the reasons why government intervenes in the market for higher education and, the factors underlying behaviour and competition in the higher education market.

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[This document contains an] overview of the vocational qualifications system in England. [It] describes the role of awarding organisations and Ofqual, as the regulator of vocational qualifications in England and Northern Ireland. [The] document includes: a statement setting out the commitments of awarding organisations recognised by Ofqual relating to their provision of unregulated qualifications and services outside of the UK; and a list of the awarding organisations that have voluntarily signed up to this statement.

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This report provides an economic analysis of the further education (FE) market in England. FE in England refers to any study taken after the age of 16 that is not part of higher education (that is, not taken as part of an undergraduate or post-graduate degree). It is delivered by a range of public, private and voluntary sector providers and, in general, equips a learner for further learning, including higher education, or for employment. It also plays an important role in reaching out to disadvantaged groups to encourage their participation in learning when they otherwise might not. To inform decisions about how best to fund and regulate the FE market so that it can deliver effectively for learners and employers and contribute to a skilled and productive workforce, this report has four key objectives. They are to: (1) describe the FE market and its sub 'markets': the economic structure, policy landscape and key players in the market; (2) investigate the extent to which features are observed in the FE market and its sub 'markets' that are common to well-functioning markets and to identify where such features would not be appropriate given the wider objectives of FE; (3) identify the barriers that prevent the FE 'markets' from functioning effectively; and therefore (4) stimulate discussion of priorities for policy intervention to improve effectiveness.

The focus in this report is on the publicly funded components of the FE market and not the wide range of education and training that is privately funded by employers for their staff. Also excluded is other study that FE providers may offer within the school and higher education systems, e.g. vocational provision for 14-16 year olds. The analysis draws on three substantive forms of evidence: a review of published literature, a quantitative analysis of data, and around 60 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders across the market.

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The UK government has published this consultation in response to the ‘Richard review of apprenticeships’, published in November 2012. It sets out the government’s long term vision for apprenticeships, together with proposals for achieving this. The review looked at how apprenticeships in England can meet the needs of the changing economy. This government response accepts the review’s assessment of the challenges and opportunities to come and endorses its recommendations for reform, in particular to: place control of apprenticeships more firmly in the hands of employers; and ensure that all apprenticeships are rigorous and responsive to employers’ needs. The government’s response also launches a consultation on the practical steps needed to turn this vision into reality. The government invites contributions from those interested in the future of apprenticeships by 22 May 2013. These will be considered and used to inform the government’s future approach and implementation plan in 2013.

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The [Small Firms Loan Guarantee] SFLG was the UK government's primary debt finance instrument, which was established in 1981. SFLG seeks to address the market failure in the provision of debt finance by providing a government guarantee to banks in cases where a business with a viable business plan is unable to raise finance because they can not offer security for their debt and/or lack a track record. This rationale still underpinned the SFLG at the time of the evaluation. The key characteristics of the scheme are the government guarantee (the proportion of the outstanding loan balance covered by the government in the event of loan default) and the government premium (paid by businesses). Over the last decade, take up of the scheme has averaged around 4,500 loans per year. In January 2009, SFLG was replaced by the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG), which opened the scheme to a wider number of businesses, with the specific objective to facilitate new bank lending in response to the credit crunch. The main objective of this research is to provide a comprehensive assessment of the wider economic impact of SFLG arising from supported businesses being able to access loans that they would otherwise not have received. The impact of SFLG is assessed on a number of business outcomes including employment change, sales change, labour productivity, likelihood to export, and propensity to introduce new products and processes.

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[This document] describes the steps taken to reform the use of vocational qualifications (based on occupation or employment) in full-time education, including a timetable for the introduction of these reforms. It sets out new initiatives to take forward the reforms in new areas, including recommendations from the review of adult vocational qualifications led by Nigel Whitehead of BAE Systems. It also presents some ideas for future reforms, particularly to the way the development of skills and competences relating to employability are funded.

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This is the government's response to the Witty review of universities and growth. The response sets out what the government will do to build on [the nation's] outstanding global reputation for science and research. It explains how government is rising to Sir Andrew's challenge through: making a long term commitment to supporting universities in their mission to deliver economic growth; drawing national successes through to the local level by strengthening Local Enterprise Partnerships and helping universities to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs); taking forward the 'Arrow Projects' concept to secure the potential of the technologies of the future; and aligning support for different scientific fields with the priorities that are developed for technologies and sectors in the context of the government's industrial strategy.

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The UK Government's 2010 strategy document 'Investing in skills for sustainable growth' [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 107.412] set out the principles of fairness and shared responsibility underpinning the investment strategy designed to create a further education (FE) system delivering a lifelong approach to learning, nurturing, sustainable economic growth and social renewal. This current investment statement confirms the Government's commitment to invest in high quality provision that delivers good value for money with a focus on young adults, the low skilled and those who are unemployed.

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