As part of his drive to bring business skills into schools and universities, Gordon Brown announced £60 million a year for enterprise learning that he hopes will ensure that by 2006 every secondary school can offer pupils five days of entrepreneurial education.

Forum Response: Universities UK

Diana Warwick, chief executive of Universities UK, said: "Universities UK welcomes the chancellor's emphasis on improving skills and educational attainment, as well as on improving staying on rates at 16. This is vital both to achieve the government's target of 50 per cent participation in HE and for the success of the UK as a modern knowledge-based economy. It is also a welcome acknowledgement that universities alone cannot meet this 50 per cent participation target.

"We also welcome the commitment to innovation and knowledge transfer and further enhancement of the links between business and the HE sector. This builds on good work that has already been done by universities in this area, and we look forward to contributing to the independent review."

Forum Response: NATFHE

Paul Mackney, general secretary for NATFHE, said: "The chancellor is right to recognise the dynamic role of universities.

"It is important that new funding arrangements for higher education attract - and do not deter - the wider range of students seeking the new opportunities the chancellor is keen to create."

Forum Response: National Union of Teachers

John Bangs, head of the education department for NUT, said: "The chancellors' hard line on public sector pay raises a question mark over the government's commitment to tackle the teacher shortage problem. If this is the government's attempt to hack back on an award which would recruit and retain sufficient teachers, then it has clearly put 'education, education, education' on the backburner.

"Teachers have accepted reform after reform, their working hours have increased year after year, yet the government insists on yet more reform. Never is time allowed for one reform to settle down before another comes rushing along.

"We have had re-structuring, re-modelling and now reform of the teaching profession. Each one has brought damage to the service and the latest proposal to allow unqualified people to take over classes is the least comprehensible yet."

Forum Response: The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association

Robin Hutchinson, head of communications at the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, told ePolitix.com: "The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association is pleased that some of the issues which are central to the voluntary sector look set to get a boost in the Budget.

"The sector, including Guide Dogs, has always needed more volunteers than have been available to it and the chancellor's proposals to encourage gap-year volunteering are welcome.

"And the development of corporate volunteering initiatives is particularly welcome, as it has the potential to not only increase the numbers of volunteers available to voluntary organisations, but may also increase understanding within the private sector of how the voluntary sector works.

"Bringing fresh thinking and experience to the development of entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation would be a hugely valuable by-product of this initiative. We must, however, ensure that any rapid expansion in the numbers of volunteers is used to add value to what we do, rather than to replace existing services and labour with cheaper, short-term alternatives."