Research Briefing
This note sets out the VAT treatment of construction work and the UK's discretion in setting VAT rates with respect to European VAT law, before discussing the debate there has been on cutting VAT on historic building repair and recent proposals to withdraw the zero rate that applies to alteration work on listed buildings.
Research Briefing
This note provides brief details about the ongoing inquiries and investigations associated with phone hacking and the various reports produced. It also gives details of the legislation regarding relevant offences and provides links to timelines of events.
Research Briefing
This Note provides a brief overview of systems of press regulation in a number of foreign countries. Where possible, it details the sanctions available to the regulator in the event that a newspaper breaches a voluntary or statutory code of industry practice. If there is an established mechanism for the arbitration of press complaints, this is noted.
Research Briefing
Following the discovery of widespread “phone-hacking” by journalists at The News of the World and other British newspapers, the Prime Minister, David Cameron, established in July 2011 a multi-part inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the press. Lord Justice Leveson was appointed as Chairman of the Inquiry. The first part (or “module”), which concluded its public hearings on 9 February 2012, concentrated on the relationship between the press and the public. Much of the material quoted in this Library Note comes from the evidence presented to this module (the first of four), but the Note will be updated periodically to take account of evidence presented at later modules.
Research Briefing
This note discusses the effects of the Ofcom ban on junk food advertising aimed at children and future policy options
Research Briefing
Ukraine is due to host the Euro2012 football competition jointly with Poland from 8 June to 1 July. Ukraine's human rights record has led to calls for a boycott.
Research Briefing
After winning the 2011 competition in Düsseldorf, Azerbaijan will be hosting the Eurovision Song Contest from 22 to 26 May 2012 in the capital, Baku, despite calls for a boycott.
Research Briefing
The Sunday Trading (London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games) Bill [HL] is subject to the fast-track procedure. The Bill was introduced into the House of Lords where it had its Second Reading debate on 24 April 2012. It is expected to complete its remaining stages in the House of Lords on 26 April 2012 and then to be introduced in the House of Commons. All stages of the Bill are expected to take place in the House of Commons on just one day, 30 April 2012. Given these time constraints, this Paper has been published after the Bill’s Second Reading in the House of Lords but before its consideration in Committee.
Research Briefing
This note covers issues arising from allotment gardens, including what happens when developers want to build on the site
Research Briefing
This note discusses the regeneration potential of the London Olympic Games
Research Briefing
This is a report on the House of Commons Committee Stage of the Daylight Saving Bill.
Research Briefing
The BBC is looking to make cost savings of 20% in the years to 2017. For English local radio, their main proposal is to focus spending on peak-time programmes, with increased sharing of content between stations.
Research Briefing
This is an account of the House of Commons Committee Stage of the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (Amendment) Bill and has been prepared for the Report and Third Reading of the Bill, scheduled for 8 September 2011. It supplements Research Paper 11/34, prepared for the Second Reading of the Bill in the Commons on 28 April 2011.
Research Briefing
The BBC World Service has a global audience of some 180 million people and is widely considered to be an important instrument of British “soft power”. This note provides background to ongoing parliamentary debates on recent decisions to cut the World Service’s budget and, in the longer term, to fund it by the licence fee.
Research Briefing
This Note looks at trends in funding within the arts sector from 1997 to the present.
Total results (page 12 of 15)