Farmers, foresters and biomass producers can apply for up to £200,000 each under a new round of grants opened today by Environment Minister Phil Woolas.

A new guide to speed up planning partnerships between councils and developers was published by Planning Minister, Iain Wright today.

The FSA has created a website and they are promoting it heavily on local...

The future of some of England’s most iconic landscapes and wildlife received a £45 million boost from Natural England on World Environment Day yesterday (Thursday 5 June) as it announced a three year funding...

Gordon Brown has hosted talks between Northern Ireland's First Minister and Deputy First Minister in Downing Street today.

Tesco, Nissan Motors and Marriott Hotels are among the 20 UK employers which have made it onto the shortlist for the first annual Local Employment Partnerships (LEP) Awards.

please add your discussion post.. Whilst affordable housing is a huge issue for rural conmmunities, to tackle this this is not enough if the communities themselves are not affordable to live in.The...

Thanks for your comment. It's important to ensure that rural communities have the same access to higher speed broadband as urban areas.

We were pleased to see that Ofcom has announced that...

As a rural business I am really very angry that it has taken so long for Ofcom to get around to checking broadband speeds. On the right sidebar of this page I can see a link to CRN 51 about rural inclusion...

One answer - Wheels 2 work!

Thanks for your comment Sally. We hope that this new announcement will mean that the situation will be taken seriously. Our chair Stuart Burgess has highlighted the problem in his report to Gordon Brown...

Thanks for your comment. Wheels 2 Work can be a great way of helping people to access training and work where public transport is not sufficient.

Thanks for your post.We believe that Post Offices play a vital role in providing access to services for rural communities. We've funded Rural Service Support to provide on-line access to experts who can...

Gordon Brown has announced a raft of initiatives that will bring more sport to more people and help make the UK a world-leading sporting nation.

A new £140 million fund to boost sport and fitness through free swimming for the over 60s was announced by the Government today as part of a drive to get two million people more active by the London 2012...

A new £140 million fund to boost sport and fitness through free swimming for over 60s was announced today as the centre-piece of the Government's plan to ensure a lasting sporting legacy from the London...

Local authorities interested in forming partnerships to deliver joined-up and cost-effective waste services for their communities have been invited by Environment Minister Joan Ruddock to submit an expression of...

Information Bulletin

A new £140 million fund to boost sport and fitness through free swimming for the over 60s was announced by the Government today as part of a drive to get two million people more active by the London 2012...

Unrestricted UK Threat Assessment Published

The Office of the Schools Adjudicator has published a decision on an objection by Dorset County Council and the Governing Bodies of 4 Primary Schools to the increase in admission number from 17 to 25 of St Nicholas...

The Office of the Schools Adjudicator has published a decision on a proposal by the governing body of Huish Episcopi Secondary School to add a sixth form from September 2010.

The Office of the Schools Adjudicator has published a decision on an objection to the admission arrangements of Thomas Whitehead CE School for September 2009 by Bedfordshire Local Authority.

As the price of fuel rises to extortionate levels and the proposed inflation...

Following last year's flooding and outbreaks of animal diseases, the Prime Minister asked Stuart Burgess, our chair and the Government's Rural Advocate, to advise on how rural...

When Gordon Brown commissioned this work, did he consider how other Govt initiatives actively destroy good rural initiatives?  Rural businesses have underperformed for a number of years.  A...

Thanks for your comments Andy, I'll pass them onto Stuart

It's good to note the references to broadband in rural areas.  'Propserous Places' is the title of the current DCLG/BERR consultation that reviews last year's Treasury paper on sub-national economic...

The NHS continues to be in good financial health with a £1.658 billion surplus for this financial year, the Department of Health announced today.

Housing Minister Caroline Flint announced that tenants will have the opportunity to reward good practice and take action against poor social landlords as she launched the recruitment for the board of the new social...

Ian Fletcher, Chief Executive of the UK Intellectual Property Office, welcomes the establishment of the Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property (SABIP).

A new Ministry of Justice strategy looks to build upon third sector relationships to deliver better public services.

Top entrepreneur and Dragons' Den judge Peter Jones today announced he will be donating £100,000 of his own money to 'Make Your Mark With a Tenner', a government-backed campaign which aims to give young...

Following last year's flooding and outbreaks of animal diseases, the Prime Minister asked Stuart Burgess, our chair and the Government's Rural Advocate, to advise on how rural...

Asked if the Prime Minister had any plans to meet with Tony Blair, the PMS said the Prime Minister spoke to Tony Blair on a regular basis, as people would expect. Asked if the Prime Minister had seen the interview...

Asked what the Prime Minister's response was to Sir Richard Dannatt's comments and did he think it was unusual for such a senior figure to comment in this way, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was asked a...

Asked a similar question on President Barroso's visit, the PMS said that there would be an opportunity for the Prime Minister and President Barroso to speak after their meeting. The main purpose of the meeting was...

Asked what the Prime Minister and King Abdullah would be discussing in their meeting, the PMS replied that they would probably discuss regional issues in the Middle-East such as where we were on the Middle East ...

The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by saying that last night there was an agreement reached on the nominations of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of the Northern Ireland Executive. There was...

Asked about the situation in Zimbabwe regarding British diplomats being contained by Zimbabwean security services, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) confirmed that there had been an incident involving UK diplomats...

Briefing from the Prime Minister's Spokesman on: Northern Ireland, King Abdullah of Jordan, President Barroso, Armed Forces pay and misc

Gordon Brown has announced a raft of initiatives that will bring more sport to more people and help make make the UK a world-leading sporting nation.

Briefing from the Prime Minister's Spokesman on: Zimbabwe

More powers to ensure highest standard of cleanliness and care

Scambusters hand out fake racing tipster scam mailings at Derby Festival The OFT is today warning consumers who like a flutter on the horses not to be conned by bogus racing tipster mailings. The OFT estimates that...

On 7 May 2008, I set out to the House the approach that the Government intended to take to the transfer and appointment of local government employees in areas that are subject to local government restructuring...

The armed forces memorial, dedicated to some 16,000 members of the United Kingdom armed forces killed on duty or as a result of terrorist action since the end of the second world war, was constructed at the National...

I am today publishing "Defence Plan 2008-12", which sets out in one place for the first time both our key targets for the coming year and the resources the Government are making available to deliver these.

In my last statement to the House on the defence attaché network on 17 September 2007, Official Report, column 125WS, I said that the Ministry of Defence would continue to review the attaché network...

The Minister for Marine, Landscape and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Chatham and Aylesford (Jonathan Shaw) announced on 26 March 2008, Official Report, column 9WS, that following a public consultation...

I have set the Animal Health agency the following performance targets for 2008-09.

Achieve 3 per cent. (£3.4 million) efficiency gains by the end of the financial period 2008-09.

Work with DEFRA...

In December 2007 the Government announced their response to Lord Carter of Coles' review of prisons. In January 2008 we published an update on specific developments in prison policy, including the prison building...

I am today placing in the House Libraries a copy of the "Promoter of the Crossrail Bill's response to the First Special Report of Session 2007-08" published on 27 May by the House of Lords Select Committee on...

At the Metropolitan Police Authority's Coordination and Policing Committee today, Commissioner Sir Ian Blair outlined MPS action to deal with potentially violent offenders who have come into contact with police.

Increasing the evidence base for intellectual property (IP) policy is vital for the Government to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex and globalised IP environment, the head of the new Strategic Advisory...

District Judge Haselgrove will retire as a District Judge on 6 June 2008.

Following last year's flooding and outbreaks of animal diseases, the Prime Minister asked Stuart Burgess, our chair and the Government's Rural Advocate, to advise on how rural...