• Research Briefing

    Sustainable Livestock Bill. Bill 5 of 2010-11 Public Bodies (Sustainable Food) Bill. Bill 12 of 2010-11

    The Sustainable Livestock Bill aims to reduce the environmental impacts of livestock production in the UK. It also aims to amend the way agricultural subsidies are used to make them more environmentally friendly. It includes a duty to give consideration to supporting sustainable practices and consumption through public procurement of livestock produce. The Public Bodies (Sustainable Food) Bill would create a duty on the Secretary of State to prepare a Code for Sustainable Food to promote the procurement of healthy and sustainable food by public bodies. This could be made compulsory if uptake was not extensive enough.

  • Research Briefing

    Finance (No.2) Bill 2010

    The Finance (No.2) Bill contains a series of minor and technical measures, most of which were announced in the then Labour Government's March 2010 Budget. The enactment of these measures was delayed by the timing of the 2010 General Election. In its first Budget on 22 June, the Coalition Government announced it would introduce two Finance Bills in 2010: the first to be passed for the summer recess to implement its key priorities, the second to be introuced in the autumn to clear these inherited measures. This note sets out the chronology of these events and a checklist of the Bill's contents.

  • Research Briefing

    Franco-British Defence Co-operation

    The UK and France agreed a series of measures intended to enhance defence co-operation between both country's armed forces, including the signing of two new defence treaties, at the latest bilateral summit on 2 November 2010. The treaties have been labelled by a number of analysts as 'historic', in particular for the implications of co-operation in the nuclear sphere. This note provides a brief summary of historical UK-French defence co-operation, the main elements of the two new defence co-operation treaties and some initial reactions to the proposals that have been set out.

  • Research Briefing

    June Budget and Spending Review 2010: DLA and ESA changes

    The Coalition Government's June 2010 Budget announced that a new "objective medical assessment" would be introduced for Disability Living Allowance claims from 2013-14. The Spending Review on 20 October announced that that the DLA mobility component is to be withdrawn from people in care homes whose place is funded by a public body. The Spending Review also announced that, from April 2012, for those Employment and Support Allowance claimants assessed as eligible for the "Work Related Activity Group", contributory ESA would only be payable for up to one year.

  • Research Briefing

    Child Benefit for higher rate taxpayers

    At the Conservative Party Conference in October 2010 the Chancellor announced that from January 2013 Child Benefit would be withdrawn from families with a higher rate taxpayer. This note looks at the background to the announcement and at reactions to it. Revised proposals for a “High Income Child Benefit Charge” were presented in Budget 2012 under which Child Benefit would instead be clawed back from families where the highest earner had an income in excess of £50,000. Further details can be found in Library briefing SN06299, Child Benefit for higher income families.

  • Research Briefing

    Economic indicators, November 2010

    This Research Paper series summarises the main economic indicators currently available for the UK, along with comparisons with other major OECD countries. It includes articles entitled 'The outlook for the public finances' and 'Which sectors are driving the economic recovery?' [Articles:'The outlook for the public finances' and 'Which sectors are driving the economic recovery?']

  • Research Briefing

    The Browne Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance

    The purpose of this note is to provide an overview of the report of the Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance (the Browne Review). The note highlights the report's proposals and includes analysis and responses to the report. This note follows on from two earlier notes on this topic: SN/SP/5695 Reform of higher education funding in England and SN/SP/4917 Review of higher education tuition fees.

  • Research Briefing

    Welsh Grand Committee

    Some Members representing Welsh constituencies called for a meeting of the Welsh Grand Committee in order to discuss the impact on Wales of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill 2010. The Secretary of State, Cheryl Gillan, declined. This Note gives a very brief account of the business of the Committee and a list of its previous meetings.

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