Research Briefing
Human Rights Act and planning
This note discusses how the European Convention on Human Rights affects UK planning law
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Research Briefing
The Church Commissioners
This note sets out the background to the creation of the Church Commissioners in 1948, their main functions, their composition, and their relationship with the House of Commons.
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Research Briefing
Buses: deregulation in the 1980s
This note briefly summarises the bus policy of the Conservative Government in the 1980s, during which time bus services were deregulated (except in London) and bus companies were privatised.
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Research Briefing
Background to the June 2010 Budget
This note gives the economic, public finance and taxation background to the June 2010 Budget
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Research Briefing
Proposed invalidation of ID cards
The Identity Cards Bill, Bill 1 of 2010-11, had its second reading in the House of Commons on Wednesday 9 June. During the debate, there was some argument as to whether any refund should be given to the 15,000 individuals who have already paid £30 for a national identity card.
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Research Briefing
Higher education and social class
The evidence, as far as it goes, suggests that over the latter half of the 20th century there was little change in the proportion of university students from lower social classes. Their participation in higher education increased, but so did participation from all social classes and the gap that was apparent in the middle of the last century was broadly maintained to the end. Even the rapid expansion of higher education in the early 1990s had little impact on this. There now exists a wide range of indicators of disadvantage and looking across these over the past five years or so there is some evidence that this gap has started to close. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds have increased their participation in higher education at a faster absolute rate than those from more advantaged backgrounds. However, the gaps in participation remain very large and the rate of change is slow.
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Research Briefing
Reform of the House of Commons: The establishment of a Backbench Business Committee
This note briefly sets out the way in which the business of the House of Commons is currently decided. It summarises the proposals on the scheduling of business from the Select Committee on Reform of the House of Commons and the decisions made by the House on 4 March 2010. It considers the March 2010 report of Reform Committee and their proposed changes to Standing Orders, along with the Government's own proposals.
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Research Briefing
Unemployment by constituency, June 2010
This paper presents labour market data for Parliamentary Constituencies. A summary of the latest national and regional labour market data is given, along with a selection of relevant constituency-level indicators including the latest Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) claimant count data (for May 2010).
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Research Briefing
Roads: pedestrian accidents on the pavement
This note describes the duty of the local highway authority to maintain the highway (including, in the definition of that term, pavements) and those defences that an authority can use if a pedestrian is injured on the pavement.
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Research Briefing
Progress towards nuclear disarmament?
In April 2009 President Obama set out his vision for a world without nuclear weapons, and in doing so laid the groundwork for renewed international efforts to strengthen and advance the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime. Over the past year that momentum has translated into the agreement of a successor to the US-Russia START treaty, global commitments to secure highly vulnerable nuclear materials within four years and the establishment, at the May 2010 Review Conference, of an action plan in support of the three main pillars of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This paper examines the prospects for achieving that vision of 'global zero'.
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Research Briefing
Shipping: safety on the River Thames and the Marchioness disaster
This note looks at the safety issues on the River Thames that came to light as a result of the Marchioness disaster in 1989 and measures taken to deal with them.
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Research Briefing
Shipping: Marine Safety Act 2003
This note briefly explains how the Marine Safety Act 2003 came into being and those problems it was designed to address.
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Research Briefing
Aviation: Manchester’s second runway, 1993-2001
This short note briefly explains the debate surrounding Manchester Airport's application to build a second runway in the late 1990s.
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Research Briefing
Emerging economies: Brazil, China, India & Russia (BRICs)
This is a archived Commons Library briefing on Emerging economies: Brazil, China, India & Russia (BRICs) from 2010.
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Research Briefing
Special Constables
This note sets out the role and powers of special constables as well as looking at some of the initiatives to increase their numbers.
Total results (page 399 of 561)