Previously led by secretary of state Sajid Javid, new prime minster Theresa May has decided to split up the responsibilities of the department and allocate them to different ones.
The budget for BIS had been reduced in recent years, with a 17 per cent cut announced during former chancellor George Osborne’s Autumn Statement address on 25 November 2015. This took the headline BIS budget, resource and capital, decline from £16.6bn to £13.2bn in 2019-20.
Now, however, Greg Clark has vacated his role as communities secretary to take charge of the new Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. This comes on the back of May saying: “A proper industrial strategy to get the whole economy firing.”
Clark said:“I am thrilled to have been appointed to lead this new department charged with delivering a comprehensive industrial strategy, leading government’s relationship with business, furthering our world-class science base, delivering affordable, clean energy and tackling climate change.”
The higher and further education portion of BIS has been made part of the Department for Education, run by Justine Greening, where David Cameron’s apprenticeship drive will be continued.
Javid is now in charge of communities and local government, which may still include parts of business policy such as the devotion of business rates, and Pritti Patel moves from employment minister to international development secretary.
The end of 2015 also saw the shuttering of the Business Growth Service (BGS) following Osborne’s Spending Review. The service had helped nearly 10,000 businesses during its lifetime, and was left behind alongside the Manufacturing Advisory Service.
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Here is Theresa May’s new cabinet:
- Chancellor of the Exchequer – Philip Hammond
- Foreign secretary – Boris Johnson
- Home secretary – Amber Rudd
- Defence secretary – Michael Fallon
- Health secretary – Jeremy Hunt
- Secretary of state for exiting the EU – David Davis
- Justice secretary – Liz Truss
- Education secretary – Justine Greening
- Secretary of state for international trade – Liam Fox
- Culture secretary – Karen Bradley
- Environment secretary – Andrea Leadsom
- Transport secretary – Chris Grayling
- International development secretary – Priti Patel
- Work and pensions secretary – Damian Green
- Business and energy secretary – Greg Clark
- Northern Ireland secretary – James Brokenshire
- Welsh secretary – Alun Cairns
- Communities secretary – Sajid Javid
- Chief whip – Gavin Williamson
- Conservative party chairman – Patrick McLoughlin
- Leader of the House of Lords – Baroness Evans
With David Cameron out, how will new prime minister Theresa May impact UK business?
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