• Research Briefing

    Icelandic Bank Default

    This note sets out the events surrounding the collapse of several Icelandic banks with branches in the UK. It looks at compensation arrangements and the impact of default on other groups.

  • Research Briefing

    Health Bill [HL]: Committee Stage Report

    This is an account of the House of Commons Committee Stage of the Health Bill [HL] prepared for the Report Stage of the Bill due on 12 October 2009. It supplements Research Papers 09/48 and 09/49, which were prepared for the Second Reading of the Bill in the Commons on 8 June 2009.

  • Research Briefing

    Unemployment by constituency, June 2009

    This paper shows the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance recorded as resident in each constituency in the United Kingdom in June 2009, together with comparisons with the levels in June 2008 and June 1997. This paper also presents residence-based unemployment rates for all 646 constituencies in the United Kingdom.

  • Research Briefing

    Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]: Committee Stage Report. Bill 115 2008-09.

    This Bill would deal firstly with the transfer of border customs functions to the new UK Border Agency. It would also introduce new naturalisation requirements, deal with various other citizenship issues and place a new duty on the UK Border Agency to safeguard the welfare of children, also making provisions in relation to trafficking babies and children for exploitation. Some elements of the Bill underwent significant change in the Lords. The Bill as first published would have provided for immigration control to be introduced on air and sea routes within the Common Travel Area (the UK, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands), but these controversial provisions were defeated in the Lords. Originally the Bill would also have restricted the involvement of the higher courts in immigration and nationality cases, but a Lords amendment limited the scope of this restriction. At the Commons Committee stage, the clause relating to the Common Travel Area was changed again and the original provisions reinstated. The introduction in the Lords of a grace period for those close to qualifying for naturalisation was reversed and the original provisions relating to judicial review were also reinstated.

  • Research Briefing

    Economic indicators, July 2009

    This Research Paper series summarises the main economic indicators currently available for the UK, along with comparisons with other major OECD countries for selected indicators. [Article: The Alignment Project: clearer government finances]

  • Research Briefing

    Human rights in Iran: An introduction

    This note provides an introduction to the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It examines the overall political and legal framework in Iran as it relates to human rights and considers the human rights experiences of religious and ethnic minorities - groups like the Baha'is and Jews - and at the human rights situation relating to gender and sexuality.

  • Research Briefing

    Progress towards the 2010/11 child poverty target, the 2020 target & the Child Poverty Bill

    The Government set targets to reduce child poverty by a quarter between 1998/99 and 2004/05, as a step towards halving it by 2010/11 and a goal of 'eradicating' it by 2020. A Bill to enhsrine the 2020 target has been published. A Library research paper on the bil is aviailable at http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/rp2009/RP09-062.pdf The 2004/05 target was missed (see SN/EP/4759 for details). A new composite measure of three indicators was then adopted, one of which constitutes the national target of halving child poverty by 2010/11.

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