• Research Briefing

    HE in England from 2012: Student numbers

    New students starting higher education in England in 2012 faced higher tuition fees, potentially higher loan interest rates and longer loan durations. The Government has also introducing a new ‘core and margin’ model which introduces an element of competition into the allocation of student numbers between institutions. The impact of these changes on potential students and student numbers is seen as one key test of the success of the Government’s reforms to higher education in England. The number of new fell in 2012 as it did when fees were first introduced and then raised in the past. Any long term change to student numbers would also have important implications for the financial health of the higher education sector and the UK economy.

  • Research Briefing

    Drug Use in England and Wales: A Summary in Charts

    Today the House of Commons debates UK drugs policy. This post considers statistics on drug use in England and Wales, looking at data from the 2013/14 Crime Survey for England and Wales. Datasets for Scotland and Northern Ireland are produced separately by the devolved administrations. According to the 2013/14 Crime Survey for England and Wales,

  • Research Briefing

    CAP reform 2014-20: EU Agreement and Implementation in the UK and in Ireland (updated)

    CAP reform 2014-2020 has been agreed and is now being implemented. This paper sets out stakeholder reaction and key implementation decisions for the four countries of the UK, and also of Ireland. It updates the November 2013 version which was prepared as government consultations on implementation were still on-going.

  • Research Briefing

    Ebola Outbreak 2014

    The 2014 Ebola outbreak started in Guinea in December 2013 and now Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia are all severely affected. It is the largest outbreak to date, at the time of writing there were over 9,000 confirmed or suspected cases. This note provides an overview of the disease, the international and UK responses to the 2014 outbreak and an outline of some of the experimental treatments being considered for use.

  • Research Briefing

    UK-USA Mutual Defence Agreement

    The Mutual Defence Agreement allows the US and UK to exchange nuclear materials, technology and information in order to improve their atomic weapon design, development and fabrication capabilities. The most important part of the MDA is due to expire at the end of 2014 and therefore an amendment treaty, which will extend this deadline to 2024, must be ratified by both States and brought into force by the end of this year.

  • Research Briefing

    European Union (Referendum) Bill

    This Private Member’s Bill was introduced to the Commons on 2 July 2014 and requires the holding of a referendum on the UK’s continued membership of the European Union (EU) before the end of 2017. This Paper has been prepared as a guide in advance of the second reading on Friday 17 October.

  • Research Briefing

    Mitochondrial donation in Parliament

    Earlier this year, following a consultation on draft regulations, the Government announced that they would be laying regulations before Parliament to allow for the introduction of new techniques to prevent the transmission of serious mitochondrial disease. Parliament will have an opportunity to scrutinise the draft Regulations and will be asked for its approval before they

  • Research Briefing

    Whatever happened to Zimbabwe?

    For over 10 years the crisis in Zimbabwe weighed heavily on the minds of British policy-makers and featured regularly in news bulletins. Yet over the last year or so, the country appears to have disappeared from view. Why? Well, plenty else has been going on. But it is also perhaps because the hopes for change

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