• Regions, universities and businesses including Teesside University, Darwen Aldridge Community Academy, Hounslow Chamber of Commerce and Fife Council honoured for excellence
• Awards form part of the UK Government’s drive to create prosperous communities across the UK through modern Industrial Strategy

Small Business Minister Kelly Tolhurst today (Friday September 21) named the winners of this year’s Enterprising Britain Awards.

Fife in Scotland has been named the UK’s most enterprising region and other top accolades have gone to Darwen Aldridge Community Academy in Lancashire, Teesside University, Hounslow Chamber of Commerce and Fife Council.

Business Minister Kelly Tolhurst said:

I’m proud to see a wealth of talent, creativity and innovation across the UK being recognised at the Enterprising Britain Awards. Entrepreneurialism is thriving in the UK, with more than 1,000 businesses starting up every day.

Through our modern Industrial Strategy, we are boosting productivity by backing businesses to create good jobs and increase the earning power of people throughout the UK with investment in the skills, industries and infrastructure of the future.

UK Government Minister Lord Duncan said:

Businesses in Fife have proved they can compete with – and beat – the best in Britain. I’m delighted that Fife has been named the Most Enterprising Place in Britain.

The UK Government is supporting their enterprising spirit. Our modern Industrial Strategy helps to ensure that businesses across Scotland and the UK are supported and continue to thrive. The UK Government is also working with the Scottish Government to ensure that all regions of Scotland, including Fife, are covered by a city deal such as Tay Cities.

The Awards celebrate the work of public sector and UK Government-backed organisations that support and encourage entrepreneurial spirit, with entrants competing in four categories – Promoting Entrepreneurial Spirit, Building Enterprise Skills, Improving the Business Environment and Support for Exporting with the overall winner receiving the title of the Most Enterprising Place in Britain.

Regions across the UK competed for the coveted title of Most Enterprising Place in Britain at the fifteenth Enterprising Britain Awards, with Fife awarded the top honour this year. In addition to the Most Enterprising Place in Britain award, Fife Council won the Promoting Entrepreneurial Spirit category for its achievements which included supporting young people to develop entrepreneurial skills, get into education, training or employment and creating an environment and programmes that are helping businesses grow.

Darwen Aldridge Community Academy in Lancashire won the Building Enterprise Skills category and Teesside University won the Improving the Business Environment category. Hounslow Chamber of Commerce’s West London Export Club won the Support for Exporting category. Lambeth Council and Hull City Council’s MC4C (Making Changes for Careers) project were highly commended by judges.

Fife Council’s co-leaders, Cllr David Alexander and Cllr David Ross, said:

These awards show what can be achieved by applying an innovative approach to supporting businesses. We are fully committed to continually improving the prospects for our young workforce and in supporting the growth of enterprise across Fife.

We are delighted that Fife is rightfully getting recognition for creating an excellent environment to support our business community to develop and grow, which, in turn, are creating quality opportunities for our local communities.

Fife Council and its business partners continue to work tirelessly to create fairer economic growth, where everyone benefits, provide good employment opportunities and secure investment in the region.

Fife is playing a key part in developing two city deals in Scotland: Edinburgh and South East Scotland; and the Tay Cities. The UK Government, working with the Scottish Government and local partners, remains on track to agree a city deal with all 7 of Scotland’s great cities.

The award winners will be formally recognised at the Enterprising Britain Awards ceremony which will be held at a House of Commons reception on October 30.

Notes to editors:

The winners are:

Promoting Entrepreneurial Spirit

Winner – Supporting Fife’s Entrepreneurial Journey – Fife Council

Building Enterprise Skills

Winner – Darwen Aldridge Community Academy, Lancashire.

Highly commended – MC4C (Making Changes for Careers) – Hull City Council

Improving the Business Environment

Winner – Teesside University

Highly commended – London Borough of Lambeth

Support for Exporting

Winner – Hounslow Chamber of Commerce West London Export Club

Most Enterprising Place in Britain – Fife Council

In August:

• HM Land Registry completed more than 1,746,970 applications to change or query the Land Register
• The South East topped the table of regional applications with 402,692

HM Land Registry completed 1,746,974 applications in August compared with 1,794,855 in July and 1,671,917 last August, of which:

• 393,233 were applications for register updates compared with 408,138 in July
• 838,122 were applications for an official copy of a register compared with 860,123 in July
• 226,859 were search and hold queries (official searches) compared with 231,386 in July
• 27,275 were postal applications from non-account holders compared with 27,245 in July

Applications by region and country

Top 5 local authority areas

Top 5 customers

The monthly Transaction Data shows how many applications for new titles, leases, splitting titles, updating existing titles, official copies of the register and search and hold queries (official searches) were received.

Next publication

Transaction Data is published on the 15th working day of each month. The September Transaction Data will be published at 11am on Friday 19 October 2018.

The UK Civil Service has this week launched the UK’s first degree-level apprenticeship in economics – creating new routes to careers in the Civil Service for young people who would prefer to study for a degree whilst working at the heart of government.

A range of central government departments and agencies including HM Treasury, Department for Work & Pensions (DWP), Department for Business, Energy, Innovation and Science (BEIS), Department for Education (DfE) and Department for Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) will provide apprenticeship placements through the new programme – which will offer students a starting salary of about £22k in London and in excess of £20k nationally.

The apprenticeship standard on which the programme is based was developed by a group of economist employers that included HM Treasury, the Bank of England as well as a range of consultancies and third sector organisations. The programme will be delivered in partnership with the University of Kent and will be open to candidates with GCSE maths at grade B (6) or above and 96 UCAS points – equivalent to CCC at A-level, MMM for a BTEC Diploma, DD for a BTEC Certificate.

Joint head of the Government Economics Service and Chief Economic Adviser at HM Treasury, Clare Lombardelli said:

“We are delighted to launch this new programme, which we hope will create new opportunities for talented young people from all parts of the communities we serve to consider economist careers in Government.”

Sam Beckett, joint head of the GES and Director General in BEIS said:

“This is an exciting new initiative for the economics profession. I am looking forward to working with the new apprentices who will join us next year – and hope to see other employers launching similar programmes in the months to come.”

Professor Karen Cox, Vice-Chancellor and President, University of Kent said:

“We are proud to have been selected to deliver the programme working with colleagues across the Government Economics Service. At Kent we have a long history of delivering undergraduate degree courses in economics to a very high standard.

We are looking forward to working with GES to deliver an apprenticeship programme which provides participants with on and off the job training and support that will prepare them for long and successful economist careers.”

For further information about the Government Economics Service Degree Apprenticeship Programme, email us at economic.apprenticeship@hmtreasury.gov.uk or visit:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-economics-service-degree-apprenticeship-programme

Renting your first place in the private rented sector while at university can be a daunting task, but it needn’t be with all the measures the Government has put in place to drive up standards and protect tenants.

Knowing your rights – as well as your responsibilities – ensures you’ll live in a safe and comfortable environment and will be able to hold your landlord or agent to account if certain standards aren’t met.

There are lots of things the Government requires landlords to do. To make understanding all this simple, we’ve put together a definitive guide to renting that tells you everything you need to consider, know and do.

Protecting your deposit

By law, your landlord or letting agent is required to protect your deposit in a Government-approved scheme within 30 days of taking it. These schemes ensure your money can’t be misused, lost or kept from you when you’re entitled to it back. There are only three:

• The Tenancy Deposit Scheme
• The Deposit Protection Service
• mydeposits

Your landlord or agent must also provide you with all the information on the scheme they’ve used within 30 days. If they fail to do either of these things they lose their ability to evict you with a section 21 notice.

There is a useful guide on what to do if your landlord breaks your tenancy deposit protection scheme rules available from Shelter.

Houses in multiple occupation

The rules around houses in multiple occupation (HMO) will be changing on 1 October 2018. Among other things, the new rules set out a minimum bedroom size; no less than 6.51 square metres for a single adult.

They also make it mandatory for landlords to adhere to council refuse schemes and ensure their properties have adequate waste facilities.

Councils may give landlords up to 18 months to make changes to ensure their HMOs comply with the bedroom size rules, but if you’ve just taken out a two-year tenancy you should consider now how these rules will affect your property in the future.

If something goes wrong

It is your landlord or agent’s responsibility to ensure the property is kept up to standard. This includes arranging prompt and certifiable repairs when utilities like gas, water and electricity fail, repairing or replacing faulty appliances, and maintaining the condition of the property.

All letting agents and property managers in England must belong to a Government approved redress scheme. There are only two:

• The Property Ombudsman
• Property Redress Scheme

These schemes provide help in resolving disputes between landlords, agents and tenants, and are a safeguard for when you’re unable to resolve a dispute yourself.

More information

More detailed information on everything contained in this article is available in our How To Rent guide – which your landlord must provide you with at the beginning of your tenancy – and our How To Rent a Safe Home guide.

Share this information

Savvy students know their rights. Share this article on social media and use the below image to tell other students you know your rights when it comes to renting.

If you’re a university or student union, download our helpful poster and display around campus.

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Minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt has thanked the people and Government of Turkey for their role in responding to the Syrian refugee crisis and maintaining regional security.

Mr. Burt, who was visiting Gaziantep, Istanbul and Ankara, met with representatives of the Turkish Government to discuss efforts to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Idlib.

Whilst in Turkey, Minister Burt visited the founders of Hala Systems, a social enterprise funded by UK aid which is saving civilian lives by providing early warnings of incoming airstrikes by WhatsApp and on social media. The technology detects aircraft using remote sensors and machine-learning algorithms before sending early warnings to civilians through air raid sirens and social media alerts.

The Minister also met members of the White Helmets, a Nobel Peace Prize-nominated civilian defence group who work tirelessly to protect the lives of civilians caught in the conflict.

Speaking from Turkey, Minister Burt said:

“Turkey is an important and longstanding friend of the UK, and I was pleased that I was able to offer the UK’s thanks to our partners in the Turkish Government for their frontline role in tackling the Syrian refugee crisis. We are encouraged by this week’s agreement between Turkey and Russia to avoid a military offensive by the Syrian regime and its allies. This agreement, if implemented in accordance with International Humanitarian Law, will help to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe.

“During my visit, I had the privilege of meeting members of the White Helmets, and we thank them for their service, courage and sacrifice which has saved over 115,000 Syrian lives. They must be able to continue their vital work without being targeted by the Asad regime.

“I was also deeply impressed by the innovative work of Hala Systems, a UK aid funded initiative that can offer Syrian civilians valuable minutes to get to safety ahead of airstrikes, and which has seen a 27% reduction in the number of casualties in areas under heavy bombardment.”

Whilst in Turkey Minister Burt met Mr Ibrahim Kalin, Chief Advisor to President Erdogan, and Governor Ismail Çatakli, Deputy Minister of the Interior. He thanked the Turkish government for its important role in supporting over 3.5 million Syrians displaced by the conflict, and discussed ways that the UK and Turkey can continue to work closely together.

Last week the UK announced a new aid package to provide life-saving clean water, medical care and shelter, for over a quarter of a million people in North West Syria.

Since the crisis started, the UK is the second largest humanitarian donor to the response inside Syria and has committed £2.71 billion since 2012, the UK’s largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis.

Last week’s package is in addition to the UK’s existing humanitarian assistance in north-west Syria. During the previous financial year, our support in Idlib Governorate has provided 654,000 people with access to clean drinking water, immunised nearly a million children under the age of five and helped over 300,000 children access education.

Notes to editors

• Last week, the UK’s Department for International Development UK announced £32 million of additional aid to meet emergency needs in Idlib and the surrounding areas. £17 million will support emergency preparedness, provided by NGOs and UN agencies, including UNICEF, WHO and UNFPA. The remaining £15m will go to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affair’s Turkey Humanitarian Fund to meet emergency needs in North West Syria.
• This year alone UK support across Idlib has enabled DFID’s partners to provide approximately 572,000 people with access to clean drinking water, immunise 95,000 children under five, provide 500,000 medical consultations, provide safe spaces for over 29,000 women and girls, distribute over 23,000 food rations and support over 2,300 health facilities.
• The UK is the largest donor to the White Helmets who have saved over 115,000 lives during the conflict. The UK remains committed to supporting the White Helmets and the vital life-saving assistance they provide.
• Through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, alongside our international partners, the UK has supported Hala Systems, a social enterprise focused on developing innovative technical solutions aimed at helping protect civilian communities caught in conflict, including in Syria.