Research Briefing
Germany’s 2013 election: shaping the future?
Where is Germany – the most influential country in Europe – heading, under its new grand coalition government?
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Research Briefing
Offender Rehabilitation Bill Committee Stage Report
The Bill covers a range of issues but its most controversial aspect (at second reading and in Committee) is that it would pave the way for the contracting-out of offender rehabilitation services for low and medium-risk offenders to private and voluntary sector providers, leaving a national probation service to manage high-risk offenders. The Government had intended to make these changes through secondary legislation, but a non-Government amendment in the House of Lords brought the changes onto the face of the Bill. That new clause was removed in Committee.
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Research Briefing
The Deal with Iran
On the 24th of November, the world woke up to news that a deal had been reached between the Permanent Five plus One (the UK, US, France, China, Russia and Germany) and Iran. A Joint Plan of Action was the outcome of weeks of hard negotiations. The deal was indeed revealed to be the fruit of years of US-Iran secret negotiations alongside a decade of public Iranian diplomacy following the revelation of a wide scale Iranian enrichment programme. This note seeks to outline the terms of the deal and reactions to it, background information for context and give a sense of potential technical and geopolitical outcomes.
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Research Briefing
Split Capital Investment Trusts
This note provides an explanation of the historic split capital trust 'debacle' in the mid 2000's
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Research Briefing
Interpal
The UK charity collects money for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and in Lebanon and Jordan. It has been the subject of controversy because of allegations that money distributed by it has gone to promote terrorism. After some delays it has been cleared by the Charity Commission, but it is still a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organisation, on the US Treasury’s list.
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Research Briefing
Care Bill [HL]
The Care Bill would consolidate existing legislation for adult social care in England into a single framework, and introduce reforms to the way care and support is accessed and funded. It also includes reforms to the regulation of health services and care standards.
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Research Briefing
Financial Services (Banking Reform) Bill: Lords stages
This note summarises the proceedings of the Lords committee stage of the bill.
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Research Briefing
Autumn Statement 2013: a summary
This note sets out the main measures announced in the 2013 Autumn Statement, presented by the Chancellor on 5 December 2013, and the Office for Budget Responsibility’s updated forecasts for the economy and public finances. There are also overviews of policy announcements on the State Pension age, business rates, the cap on welfare spending and jobs and young people.
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Research Briefing
Intellectual Property Bill [HL]
The Intellectual Property Bill [HL] (Bill 102 of session 2013-14) was introduced into the House of Lords on 9 May 2013, where it received Second Reading on 22 May. It completed its parliamentary stages in the upper house on 30 July and was passed to the Commons, where it received First Reading on 29 August. This Research Paper has been produced to inform the Second Reading debate in the Commons, which is scheduled for 9 December 2013.
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Research Briefing
Buses: grants and subsidies
This note summarises the different types of government financial support for bus services in England, including Bus Service Operators’ Grant, the Green Bus Fund and the Better Bus Areas Fund.
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Research Briefing
The EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy: A Fresh Impetus?
The European Council Summit is due to be held on 19-20 December 2013. Among the main issues for debate is the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). It will be the first time in five years that EU leaders have comprehensively discussed EU defence policy, amid criticisms that CSDP has lost momentum due to a lack of consensus over its strategic direction, an unwillingness on the part of Member States to commit the necessary resources and the prevailing economic crisis which has seen defence budgets fall across Europe and capabilities cut.
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Research Briefing
Economic Indicators, December 2013
This Research Paper series summarises the main economic indicators currently available for the UK, along with comparisons with other major OECD countries. This weeks articles are 'Who’s looking for work? Differences between ILO unemployment and the claimant count' and 'Interesting times: inflation and monetary policy responses'
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Research Briefing
Autumn Statement 2013: background briefing
This note sets out the background to the 2013 Autumn Statement which will take place on Thursday 5 December. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) will publish revised forecasts for the economy and public finances on the same day.
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Research Briefing
The Francis Report (Report of the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust public inquiry) and the Government’s response
This briefing provides background to the public inquiry led by Robert Francis QC into serious failings in care at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust before 2009. It also provides some information on the Government’s initial response to the Francis report, which was published on 6 February 2013.
Total results (page 317 of 559)