The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is a department of His Majesty's Government. The department was formed during a machinery of government change on 14 July 2016, following Theresa May's appointment as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

, through a merger between the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

Responsibilities

The department has responsibility for: * business * industrial strategy * science, research and innovation * deregulation * energy and clean growth * climate change While some functions of the former Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, in respect of higher and further education policy, apprenticeships and skills, were transferred to the

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England. A Departme ...

, in a statement May explained:

The Department for Energy and Climate Change and the remaining functions of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have been merged to form a new Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, bringing together responsibility for business, industrial strategy, and science and innovation with energy and climate change policy. The new department will be responsible for helping to ensure that the economy grows strongly in all parts of the country, based on a robust industrial strategy. It will ensure that the UK has energy supplies that are reliable, affordable and clean; and it will make the most of the economic opportunities of new technologies, and support the UK’s global competitiveness more effectively.

Research and innovation partnerships in low and middle-income countries

BEIS spends part of the overseas aid budget on research and innovation through two major initiatives: The

Newton Fund Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ...

and the Global Challenges Research Fund, or GCRF. Both funds aim to leverage the UK’s world-class research and innovation capacity to pioneer new ways to support economic development, social welfare and long-term sustainable and equitable growth in low and middle-income countries. The Newton Fund builds research and innovation partnerships with partner countries to support their economic development and social welfare, and to develop their research and innovation capacity for long-term sustainable growth. The fund is delivered through 7 UK delivery partners.

National Security and Investment Act 2021

In August 2022, BEIS blocked the sale of Pulsic Limited in Bristol to a company owned by the China's National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund. Pulsic is a chip design software company which makes tools to design and develop the circuit layouts for chips. In November 2022, BEIS ordered

Nexperia Nexperia is a semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.It is a subsidiary of the partially state-owned Chinese company Wingtech Technology. It has front-end factories in Hamburg, Germany and Greater Manchester, Engla ...

to sell at least 86 percent of

Newport Wafer Fab The Inmos microprocessor factory, also known as the Inmos factory or Newport Wafer Fab is a semiconductor fabrication plant for Inmos built in Newport, Wales, UK in 1980. It has gone through numerous changes in ownership. Since July 2021, the ...

, the largest chipmaking facility in the UK, which it had acquired in July 2021. Nexperia itself had been taken over by a Chinese company named Wingtech Technology in 2018.

Devolution

Some responsibilities extend to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

alone due to devolution, while others are reserved or excepted matters that therefore apply to the other countries of the United Kingdom as well. Reserved and excepted matters are outlined below. Scotland Reserved matters: The

Economy Directorates The Scottish Government Economy Directorates are a group of Directorates of the Scottish Government. They were rebranded as the Economy Directorates in July 2016, having previously been reorganised in December 2010 and then in June 2014. In July 20 ...

of the Scottish Government handles devolved economic policy. Northern Ireland Reserved matters: *

Climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

policy *

Competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, ind ...

* Consumer protection * Import and export control *

Export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is a ...

licensing *

Intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

* Nuclear energy * Postal services *Product standards, safety and liability * Research councils *

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence ...

and

research Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

Telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that ...

* Units of measurement Excepted matter: *

Outer space Outer space, commonly shortened to space, is the expanse that exists beyond Earth and its atmosphere and between celestial bodies. Outer space is not completely empty—it is a near-perfect vacuum containing a low density of particles, pred ...

Nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

The department's main counterpart is: * Department for the Economy (general economic policy)

Ministers

The Ministers in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are: In October 2016,

Archie Norman Archibald John Norman (born 1 May 1954) is a British businessman and politician. He is the only person to have been chairman of an FTSE 100 company and a Member of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons (MP) at the same ti ...

was appointed as Lead Non Executive Board Member for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

References

{{Authority control 2016 establishments in the United Kingdom Business in the United Kingdom Economy ministries Energy ministries Innovation ministries Research ministries Energy in the United Kingdom Innovation in the United Kingdom Ministries established in 2016