The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) was a UK government department created on 28 June 2007 to take over some of the functions of the Department of Education and Skills and of the Department of Trade and Industry. Its head office was based at Kingsgate House, 66-74 Victoria Street, London SW1, which has now been demolished. In June 2009 it was merged into the newly formed

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) was a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It was created by the Gordon Brown premiership on 5 June 2009 by the merger of the Department for Innovation, Uni ...

. It was responsible for adult learning, some parts of further education, higher education, skills, science and innovation. DIUS also had responsibility for a number of Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs). These included the Research Councils: * Medical Research Councilbr>
*

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, is a non-departmental public body (NDPB), and is the largest UK public funder of non-medical bioscience. It predominantly funds science, scient ...

(BBSR

*

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is a British UK Research Councils, Research Council that provides government funding for grants to undertake research and postgraduate degrees in engineering and the physical scienc ...

(EPSRC

* The

Economic and Social Research Council The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), formerly the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) funded by the UK government. ESRC provides fundi ...

(ESRC

* The

Arts and Humanities Research Council The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), formerly Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB), is a British research council, established in 1998, supporting research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities. History The Arts a ...

(AHRC

* The

Science and Technology Facilities Council The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is a United Kingdom government agency that carries out research in science and engineering, and funds UK research in areas including particle physics, nuclear physics, space science and astr ...

(STFC

* The

Natural Environment Research Council The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is a British Research Councils UK, research council that supports research, training and knowledge transfer activities in the environmental sciences. History NERC began in 1965 when several envir ...

(NERC

Other NDPBs sponsored by DIUS were: *

Higher Education Funding Council for England The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom, which was responsible for the distribution of funding for higher education to universities and further education colleges in Engl ...

(HEFCE

* Student Loans Company (SLC

* The Technology Strategy Board (TSB

* The Design Counci

In addition DIUS was the sponsor department for ESTA- the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts

. Only some of DIUS's functions were UK-wide: it oversaw the science budget, provided through the Research Councils, for the UK as a whole. On the other hand, education is a devolved matter and there were corresponding departments in the

Northern Ireland Executive The Northern Ireland Executive (Irish language, Irish: ''Feidhmeannas Thuaisceart Éireann'', Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster Scots: ''Norlin Airlan Executive'') is the devolution, devolved government of Northern Ireland, an administrative branc ...

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

and

Welsh Assembly Government Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

.House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee - First Report
Cross-border provision of public services for Wales: further and higher education The Department's strategic objectives were to A number of education functions of the former DfES (largely those focussed on the 14 - 19 age group) were taken over by the

Department for Children, Schools and Families Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) was a department of the UK government, between 2007 and 2010, responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including child protection and education. DCSF was repl ...

. The only Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills was John Denham MP. In a foreword to the department's

White Paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. Since the 199 ...

, ''Innovation Nation'', published in March 2008, Denham outlined the importance of innovation as a national commitment: The first Permanent Secretary,

Ian Watmore Ian Charles Watmore (born 5 July 1958) is a British management consultant and former senior civil servant under three prime ministers, who served from October 2016 to September 2021 as the First Civil Service Commissioner. Early life and busi ...

, moved to a new appointment, leading to the appointment of Sir Jon Shortridge who was in post a matter of nine days before the department was dissolved.

References

External links

Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills
archived official website as of May 5, 2009 *

Video clips

DIUS YouTube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Department For Innovation, Universities And Skills Innovation, Universities and Skills

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Government agencies disestablished in 2009 Higher education organisations based in the United Kingdom Innovation in the United Kingdom Ministries established in 2007 2007 establishments in the United Kingdom 2009 disestablishments in the United Kingdom