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The Cabe team at the Design Council has today launched a network of 250 Built Environment Experts (BEEs) who will support its work delivering high-quality designed places throughout England. Hanif Kara (part of the design team for the UK Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Expo), Colin Haylock (Royal Town Planning Institute President), Liane Hartley (Co-founder of Mend and one of NESTA’s top 50 new radicals) and Sarah Foster (RTPI’s Young Planner of the Year 2010) are just a few of the 250 experts that will work to ensure that design plays a crucial part in the development of UK’s built environment.

The Design Council and Nominet Trust have today announced that three teams have been awarded £50,000 to design, build and launch new digital products and services that help young people access education and employment opportunities.

Business Secretary Vince Cable will today open Design Summit 2012 at London’s City Hall to consider how Britain can capitalise on our distinctive qualities to secure economic growth and rebalance the economy.

Top designers and business people are to join Government ministers including Rt Hon Dr Vince Cable MP, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, at the Design Council’s 2012 Design Summit on 26 June. The Summit will debate how the country can exploit its uniquely ‘British’ assets and talents to help rebalance the economy and boost demand for UK products and services.

The Design Council is backing Creative & Cultural Skills to connect industry and education through a new Skills Academy for the design sector, announced today by John Hayes, Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning.

Learning to fly, sharing an amazing talent like dancing or knitting, supporting younger adults taking their first steps on the career ladder, and reviving the make do and mend mentality are just some of the positive outputs from seven aspirational service developed as part of the Independence Matters: Design and Technology Improving Quality of Life unveiled today. Independence Matters was inspired by need to stimulate business and social innovation for older adults, and is a collaboration between the Technology Strategy Board and the Design Council to develop inspiring services that promote independence in later life.

Design now has an even stronger role to play in the planning system, both in terms of plan making and decision taking. While the Government has announced a strategic review of guidance documents, there is a wealth of expertise and evidence on how best to achieve good quality design outcomes which are still relevant today.

The Design Council has welcomed today’s announcement by the Government that copyright in designs which qualify for copyright protection is to be enforceable beyond the current 25 years to a term of ‘life of the creator plus 70 years’. Under the new measures, certain ‘artistic’ designs of manufactured goods (for example certain furniture, lamps and jewellery) created before 1987 may now be protected from unauthorised copying under copyright law.

A fragrance-release system designed to stimulate appetite, specially-trained ‘guide dogs for the mind’, and an intelligent wristband that supports people with dementia to stay active safely, are just some of the design prototypes to help people live well with dementia unveiled by Care Services Minister Paul Burstow at the Design Council today.

After nine years as Chief Executive of the Design Council, David Kester has announced that he will be leaving the Design Council at the end of June 2012. Until then, he will focus on major policy projects and special events. In view of this he will transfer the day to day running of the organisation to Madeline Denmead , the COO, until a successor is found. David will also support the Chairman, Martin Temple to appoint his successor.

Exciting new high-tech product concepts – from cancer-detecting needles and anti-counterfeiting films to new ways to use ozone to preserve packaged foods - have been unveiled, following their development from university research projects into marketable ideas by unique collaborations between designers and academics.

Design Council Cabe is delighted that a commitment to delivering good design is written into the core planning principals of the new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) – this is crucial to ensure that whilst the planning process is more efficient and accessible, it also ensures that proposed building developments generate proper lasting benefits for the communities in which they are sited.

A road show coming to the South East will encourage businesses to use design to improve sales, protect jobs and compete in the tough economic climate.

Renewed importance of design in the curriculum

At MIPIM today Design Council Cabe announced the formation of the London Design Review panel. This move is in line with recommendations in the Bishop Review to set up a London Panel that will complete the network of Design Review panels, ensuring the availability of Design Review services to all local authorities across England.