Research Briefing
The Digital Economy Act 2010 received the Royal Assent on 8 April 2010 following accelerated debate in the House of Commons as part of the pre-election "wash-up". The present Government has confirmed that there are no plans to repeal any of the Act's provisions
Research Briefing
This note briefly summarises the bus policy of the Conservative Government in the 1980s, during which time bus services were deregulated (except in London) and bus companies were privatised.
Research Briefing
This note sets out the debate about the continued use of imperial measures and where they are still permitted in law.
Research Briefing
This note summarises the legislation concerning health warnings on tobacco packaging.
Research Briefing
This note sets out controls on workplace temperature relating to maximum and minimum temperatures.
Research Briefing
This note summarises the law under which tattooing and body piercing business are licensed and regulated
Research Briefing
This note sets out the issues behind recent concerns surrounding the safety of deposits made by UK residents in Irish banks at the time of the financial crisis in 2008.
Research Briefing
This note was last published on 26 August 2009 and will not be updated. In the early stages of the financial crisis there were hopes that it would be largely contained within developed economies, with developing economies having 'decoupled' from them. These early hopes proved unfounded, with developing countries struck by declining trade, a loss of investor confidence and withdrawal of investment, a fall in the value of vital remittances, and much reduced growth and contraction in some cases. There are also fears that aid flows may suffer in the aftermath of the crisis. This note summarises key reports and statistics, with links to further resources.
Research Briefing
This Briefing Paper provides a brief summary of the financial crisis, or credit crunch, of 2008 followed by a lengthy timeline of individual events.
Research Briefing
This brief note provides some background to amendments that have been tabled in relation to the Digital Economy Bill, Bill 89 2009-10.
Research Briefing
This note outlines the background to and scope of the financial services compensation scheme (FSCS). Significant changes were made to the scheme in the summer of 2007 following the emergence of financial difficulties at the Northern Rock bank and in October 2008 following continued difficulties in the UK banking sector.
Research Briefing
The Bill implements aspects of Government policy on digital media set out in the ‘Digital Britain’ White Paper published in June 2009. It requires Ofcom to report on communications infrastructure and media content and gives it additional powers in relation to electromagnetic spectrum access. It imposes obligations on internet service providers to reduce online copyright infringement and allows the Secretary of State to intervene in internet domain name registration. The Bill requires Channel Four to provide public service content on a range of media and allows variation of the public service provision in Channel 3 and 5 licences. It also modifies the licensing regime to facilitate switchover to digital radio, extends the range of video games that are subject to age-related classification and includes non-print formats in the public lending right payment scheme.
Research Briefing
This note discusses sheep farmers concerns that their health has been damaged by using organophosphate sheep dips
Research Briefing
Summarises responses from individual European governments and from the EU.
Research Briefing
All firms undertaking sale and rent back agreements now have to be authorised by the FSA, so giving consumers greater protection. A key feature of the full regime will be that all consumers who undertake a sale and rent back agreement will have a guaranteed minimum tenancy of five years.
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