• Research Briefing

    The demise of the cheque?

    Cheques are an old and familiar form of payment that threatened to come to an end in 2018. this note sets out the reasons why and why the decision was reversed.

  • Research Briefing

    HIV and Hepatitis C infection from contaminated blood and blood products

    This Note summarises the background and current areas of debate relating to an episode of HIV and Hepatitis C infection from contaminated blood and blood products during the 1970s and 1980s. This includes existing support for those affected, the recommendations of an independent inquiry on this matter (the Archer Inquiry), and ongoing debate relating to levels of support in comparison with other countries.

  • Research Briefing

    AV and electoral reform

    The Coalition Programme of May 2010 included a commitment to introduce a Referendum Bill on electoral reform. The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill was introduced on 22 July 2010 and made provision for the introduction of the Alternative Vote system for the House of Commons if there is a positive result in the referendum to be held on 5 May 2011. The Bill received Royal Assent on 16 February 2011. This note provides a summary of the main provisions of the Act; full details on the introduction of the Bill are given in Library Research Paper 10/55.

  • Research Briefing

    Aviation: security

    This Note gives an overview of how the UK and other governments are working to secure air transport from terrorist attacks. It includes information on the responses to 9/11 and subsequent terror attacks or attempted attacks, including the restrictions on hand luggage introduced in 2006 and the introduction of body scanners at UK airports in 2010.

  • Research Briefing

    Sovereign Grant Bill

    The Sovereign Grant Bill concerns the way in which the monarchy is funded. It seeks to replace the Civil List and other grants that support the Queen’s official duties with a new Sovereign Grant, based on a percentage of the profits of the Crown Estate. The new grant is designed to deliver at first a broadly similar level of finance in cash terms to what is available at present. There are mechanisms for adjusting the level in future, and for using any significant surplus as a means to reduce the grant. The Sovereign Grant is intended to be a typical government grant that will lead to the royal finances being audited by the National Audit Office, and subjected to full parliamentary scrutiny.

  • Research Briefing

    Establishing a right of way

    A common issue raised by constituents concerns the options available for formalising a right of way. This note highlights a variety of relevant legal provisions and procedures and provides a summary timeline of the key legislative acts which have shaped the classifications of rights of way since 1949. The options available depend on how the path came to be of use in the first place and if it has any official classification on the Definitive Map for the area. The Definitive Map records all recognised rights of way.

  • Research Briefing

    Police (Detention and Bail) Bill

    This Research Paper has been prepared for the Commons stages of the Police (Detention and Bail) Bill, which is being fast-tracked and is due to undergo all of its remaining Commons stages on 7 July 2011. The Bill would reverse the effect of the High Court’s recent decision in the Hookway case, in which it held that the “detention clock” limiting the period that the police can hold a suspect for without charge continued to run when the suspect was released on bail

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