Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is today announcing £1 billion additional support for UK businesses at a national conference staged at the Bristol and Bath Science Park in Emersons Green. The funding is part of the Regional Growth Fund and takes the total fund to £2.4 billion. Nick Clegg is being joined by Business Secretary Vince Cable and his Ministerial
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Liberal Democrats on South Gloucestershire Council will propose budget amendments to a meeting of Full Council on Wednesday (22nd February), committing the authority to a zero increase in council tax, protecting front-line services, and devolving more of its money to local decision-making. Ruth Davis, Leader of the council’s opposition, said: “We live in difficult financial times; we all know that
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Science and hi-tech businesses have been locating at the Bristol & Bath Science Park much faster than predicted, with three quarters of the available desks snapped up in less than six months. Fourteen different businesses and organisations, such as research-led early stage companies and businesses offering sector-specific support are now occupying 78 of the first 103 desks on the ground
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South Gloucestershire’s SORT IT! Centres have accepted 160 tonnes of bulky rigid plastic items for recycling since the beginning of August 2011, when the new service was introduced. Cllr James Hunt, executive member for communities said: “We’ve had an amazing response from the public who have taken care to separate their rigid plastic items and place them into the correct
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South Gloucestershire Council’s state-of-the-art fleet of new snow ploughs are being readied for the first serious snowfall of the winter. With weather forecasts showing an increased likelihood of snow through Saturday night and Sunday morning, the council’s winter maintenance team are preparing for all-night operation on Saturday night to grit the district’s roads and plough where snow settles. Head of
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Council plans to promote access to high-speed broadband throughout South Gloucestershire have taken a crucial step forward with the launch of a new exercise to confirm the areas where internet access should be improved. The council has teamed up with Wiltshire and Swindon councils to progress its plans and the three councils will be asking broadband suppliers to confirm areas
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Plans to freeze South Gloucestershire’s Council Tax for a second year running will be considered by Cabinet at its next meeting on Monday 6th February. If agreed, the proposals will have saved the average household over £50 per year over the two years. The revenue budget and Council Tax proposals for 2012/13 aim to keep costs as low as possible
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Every home and business in South Gloucestershire will potentially be able to access broadband by 2015 with nine out of ten enjoying superfast speeds of up to 24 Mbps, thanks to nearly £3m of public investment. South Gloucestershire Council has drawn up plans to invest £2.2m of its own money in providing broadband infrastructure capable of delivering much faster speeds,
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A local government spending watchdog has warned South Gloucestershire Council that failures in the way it managed grant applications from disabled people could mean central government will cut its funding. The Audit Commission has published a critical account of the way in which Conservative-run South Gloucestershire Council managed its process for awarding Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs). Councils are obliged by
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Council plans to boost access to high-speed broadband in partnership with Wiltshire and Swindon councils have been officially approved by South Gloucestershire’s Cabinet. The partnership, first revealed last month, means that South Gloucestershire will now be among the first councils in the country to begin signing up a commercial provider under the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) scheme. The BDUK
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