Research Briefing
European Union (Finance) Bill 2015-16
The Commons Library's briefing note on the European Union (Finance) Bill 2015-16.
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Research Briefing
Measures to limit migrants’ access to benefits
Following an article by the Prime Minister’s in the Financial Times on 27 November 2013 in which he said he shared concerns about the impact of lifting transitional restrictions on the right of Romanian and Bulgarian right to work in the UK from 1 January 2014, the Government has introduced a raft of measures “to tighten up our EEA migration rules to ensure our welfare system is not taken advantage of.”
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Research Briefing
Unemployment by Constituency, June 2015
This paper contains labour market figures for parliamentary constituencies, as well as a summary of the latest national and regional statistics.
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Research Briefing
Landfill Tax (Qualifying Fines) Order 2015
Following a consultation exercise, in December 2014 the Coalition Government confirmed that from 1 April 2015, landfill site operators would be able to use a new 'Loss on Ignition' (LOI) test, to ensure they charged the right rate of landfill tax on 'fines' - residual waste from waste processing. Operators would be able to charge the lower rate of tax on 'fines' meeting certain criteria. This Order would introduce the new test. It is not expected to have an Exchequer impact.
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Research Briefing
Who wants work?
The employment rate reached a record high at the start of the year, but it is worth asking who still wants more work? Unemployed 1.79 million working age people in the UK were unemployed in the first quarter of 2015. Unemployment though can be a narrow way of looking at people who want work –
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Research Briefing
Introduction of Personal Independence Payment
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is replacing Disability Living Allowance for people of working age. Following its introduction for new claims in April 2013 there were problems with the claims process, with some claimants waiting six months or more for a decision. The previous Government said that, as a result of actions it was taking, by autumn 2014 no PIP claimant would have to wait more than six months for an assessment and by the end of 2014 no one would have to wait more than 16 weeks.
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Research Briefing
EU Treaty change: the parliamentary process of bills
How does Parliament deal with EU Treaty amendments? Is primary legislation needed to implement them? This briefing looks at the parliamentary process of bills linked to the ratification of EU Treaty amendments and compares the amount of time spent on the major EU Treaties since the UK joined the European Economic Community in 1973.
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Research Briefing
The Self-build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015
This Act builds on existing Government initiatives, particularly the proposed ‘Right to Build’, with the aim of increasing the number of self/custom built properties in England. This note explains the Act's provisions.
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Research Briefing
Communications Data: The 2012 draft Bill and recent developments
A draft Communications Data Bill was introduced and scrutinised by Parliament in 2012-13. The draft Bill, referred to by critics as a “snooper’s charter”, was not taken forward, following opposition from the Liberal Democrats. The Queen's Speech in 2015 promised an Investigatory Powers Bill, which is expected to replicate features of the earlier draft Bill.
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Research Briefing
The Living Wage
The living wage is an hourly rate of pay set annually by reference to the basic cost of living in the UK and London. The current living wage is £7.85 per hour outside London and £9.15 per hour in London.
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Research Briefing
Large energy generation projects in Wales – who will be deciding on them in future?
This article is by Graham Winter, National Assembly for Wales Research Service, with contributions from Louise Smith, House of Commons Library. It first appeared on In Brief. An increasingly complex picture is emerging about who will be taking decisions on large energy projects in future, with the Planning (Wales) Act 2015 about to appear on
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Research Briefing
Turkey’s 2015 elections: a change of direction?
What's next for Turkey? The AKP has lost power after 13 years in government, following a surge in support for the Kurdish HDP. Coalition negotiations may be underway, but fresh elections loom, and the uncertainty is likely to damage Turkey.
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Research Briefing
Endowment mortgages
The endowment mortgage mis-selling scandal was the first and largest financial scandal of this century. It shaped both the new regualtor and the then new office of Financial Ombudsman.
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Research Briefing
Do sanctions work?
Sanctions don’t work? It is difficult to be sure why a country has changed its policy. Most academics used to conclude, however, that there was precious little evidence for international sanctions changing anything. In 1985, an author argued that there were few subjects where international relations analysts agreed as much as on the proposition ‘sanctions
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Research Briefing
Comparative Prison Sentences in the EU
This briefing provides a downloadable tool which allows the user to make a graphical comparison of unsuspended custodial sentences for like crimes across the EU. Two countries may be selected for comparison of nine different offence types, with graphs showing the percentage of custodial sanctions awarded by sentence length.
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