Policy Review Section

Abstract

In this Policy Review Section, James Cornford and Kevin Robins of the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, discuss the major changes currently taking place in the British broadcasting industry which have emanated from economic, political and technological pressures over the past decade. Cornford and Robins review the evolution of government policy with its measures to introduce greater levels of competition and consider the policy implications of these changes in broadcasting legislation and regulation for local and regional media development. In the second article, Michael Fuller, Michael Murphy and Sarah Vickerstaff of the Canterbury Business School, University of Kent, summarize the results of two studies examining the current training activities of companies in Kent in the light of major developments taking place in the local economy and the County's proximity to the continent. In considering the implications for current training policy, they argue that efforts should concentrate on the small and medium-sized firm sector with a particular emphasis on improving the ‘in-house training’ capacity of managers and supervisors.