Research Briefing
Egypt's revolt has been greeted as a historic moment that will have enormous consequences throughout the Arab world. This note provides a simple chronological account of events swince 25 January. It looks a the background to the crisis and profiles groups and individuals involved and considers some likely outcomes of the present crisis.
Research Briefing
The Welfare Reform Bill provides for the introduction of a 'Universal Credit' to replace a range of existing means-tested benefits and tax credits for people of working age, starting from 2013. The Bill follows the November 2010 White Paper, Universal Credit: welfare that works, which set out the Government’s proposals for reforming welfare to improve work incentives, simplify the benefits system and tackle administrative complexity.
Research Briefing
On 3 March 2011 a referendum was held in Wales to decide whether the National Assembly for Wales should gain the power to legislate on a wider range of matters in one go. This was in contrast to the previous situation, in which it had to gain approval from the UK Parliament each time it wanted to expand the range of matters. This note gives an account of the referendum campaign and vote, and the implications of this in constitutional terms
Research Briefing
This note outlines the history of Parliamentary representation in the Preseli Pembrokeshire constituency
Research Briefing
This paper has been prepared for the Second Reading debate in the House of Commons. For information on the provision in the Bill relating to the introduction of Universal Credit, please see the complementary Library Research Paper, 11/24. Besides Universal Credit, the Bill proposes a number of other significant welfare reforms, including replacement of the current Disability Living Allowance, restriction of Housing Benefit entitlement to social housing tenants whose accommodation is larger than they need, time-limiting the payment of contributory Employment and Support Allowance to twelve months, and capping the total amount of benefit that can be claimed.
Research Briefing
The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act contains measures to set the number of UK parliamentary constituencies at 600 and to limit the permitted variation in the number of registered electors for a constituency. This note considers the possible impact by region of the proposals in the Bill and compares the sizes of constituency electorates at 1 December 2010. It looks at the variation in electorate sizes about national and regional means and about the UK Electoral Quota as defined in the Act.
Research Briefing
This note covers the EU ban on the import of illegal timber and proposals for UK legislation.
Research Briefing
This is one of a series of notes which looks at actual or proposed reforms of either certain parts of the financial services sector or reforms of certain activities. The entire sector has received worldwide attention from regulators, governments, consumer and intra-industry and professional groups following the financial crisis which began in 2007. Whilst the 'rescue and recovery' phase of the crisis is (mainly) past, and the consultation and consideration phase nearing its climax, the legislative phase is still to come. This note looks at the arguments surrounding commodity speculation and its impact on the real world of commodity prices. A growing number of economic commentators and charity groups have highlighted what they see as a link between growing and ever more sophisticated forms of financial speculation (distinct from the traditional, real, commodity trading and hedging activities) and the volatility of food and other commodity prices. The statistical evidence from various surveys presents a more mixed picture on the links between speculation and price increases. Financial speculation does appear to make commodity prices more volatile but does not provide much of an explanation for the specific movement of individual prices in the short term. Regulators have their own concerns over the methods used by traders and dealers. Most trades are carried out using derivative swap instruments outside of the more open, transparent regulated exchanges. The note outlines what measures are being promoted to improve the regulation of the financial markets involved with these matters.
Research Briefing
This note provides background information about the Government's review of key counter-terrorism and security powers, which was announced by the Government on 13 July 2010.
Research Briefing
This note details the sometimes controversial dealings between the UK government and the regime of Muammer Qaddafi and looks at the reasons for Libya's partial rehabilitation by the west, in which the UK was closely involved.
Research Briefing
This is a report on the House of Commons Committee Stage of the Estates of Deceased Persons (Forfeiture Rule and Law of Succession) Bill (the Bill). It complements Research Paper 11/07 prepared for the Commons Second Reading. The Bill is a Private Member's Bill. It was presented to Parliament by Greg Knight, through the ballot procedure, on 30 June 2010 as Bill 8 of 2010-11 and had its second reading on 21 January 2011. The Bill had a single sitting in a Public Bill Committee on 16 February 2011. No amendments had been tabled and there was no disagreement to any of the clauses. The Bill was reported without amendment. The Bill would, in certain circumstances, protect the inheritance rights of the descendants of people who have forfeited their inheritance by killing the deceased; or who have decided not to accept their own inheritance. Broadly, it would implement, with modifications, a number of the recommendations of the Law Commission in its 2005 report, The Forfeiture Rule and the Law of Succession. The Bill would extend to England and Wales.
Research Briefing
This paper outlines the changes made to transport policy by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition Government and looks at some of the long term transport challenges the government is likely to face over the course of this Parliament.
Research Briefing
This Research Paper series summarises the main economic indicators currently available for the UK, along with comparisons with other major OECD countries. Revisions to Q4 2010 GDP showed the economy had contracted more sharply than first thought, -0.6% compared with an initial figure of -0.5%. In addition, unemployment remains stuck around 2.5 million and average earnings are growing at around half the rate of inflation. Other indicators are more positive. The manufacturing sector is growing strongly, business sentiment is improving and retail sales recovered in January. [Article: 'Lending to small businesses' and 'The UK's aid programmes - where is the money going?']
Research Briefing
This note sets out the role of the Commission in more detail. It also summarises the conclusions of the December 2007 Public Administration Select Committee report, Propriety and Peerages.
Research Briefing
This briefing on the Protection of Freedoms Bill was prepared for the House of Commons Second Reading debate. The Bill forms part of the Coalition Government's programme to “implement a full programme of measures to reverse the substantial erosion of civil liberties and roll back state intrusion”, and follows the passing of the Identity Documents Act 2010, which abolished identity cards. The Bill introduces a wide range of measures including the a new framework for police retention of fingerprints and DNA data, a requirement for schools to get parents’ consent before processing children’s biometric information, a new regime for police stops and searches under the Terrorism Act 2000 and the reduction of the maximum pre-charge detention period under that Act from 28 to 14 days. It also restricts the scope of the 'vetting and barring' scheme for protecting vulnerable groups and makes changes to the system of criminal records checks.
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