Research Briefing
Legal aid reform:the unified civil contract
This standard note reviews the introduction of the Unified Contract for civil legal aid, which came about following the Carter review of legal aid procurement.
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Research Briefing
Fairtrade products & towns
This is an archived Commons Library briefing on Fairtrade products & towns from 2009.
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Research Briefing
Measles and MMR statistics
This note summarises the latest statistics on measles incidence and rates of immunisation. It also discusses the effect of media coverage on public confidence in the MMR triple vaccine, and compares the UK's immunisation rates with the rest of the OECD.
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Research Briefing
Serbia: political and economic profile
This note provides a political and economic overview of the current situation in Serbia. It looks at the halting progress which Serbia is making toward integration into the EU, held up to a large extent by Serbia's failure to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and at the dynamic political landscape of 2008 with both presidential and parliamentary elections. Serbia continues to have difficult relationships with some of its neighbours, particularly Kosovo, and is awaiting the outcome of the International Court of Justice ruling on the legality of Kosovo's February 2007 declaration of independence. The note also looks at the current economic situation in Serbia. While Serbia had seen strong growth since 2000, accompanied by the implementation of reforms, following the conflicts and crises of the 1990s, Serbia has suffered under the global financial crisis, primarily because of its large current account deficit. Serbia also suffers from high levels of unemployment and poverty.
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Research Briefing
Business Rate Supplements Bill: Committee Stage Report
This is a report on the Committee Stage of the Business Rate Supplements Bill 2008-09, produced in response to a recommendation of the Modernisation Committee in its report on The Legislative Process (HC 1097, 2005-06).
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Research Briefing
Unemployment by Constituency, January 2009
This paper shows the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance recorded as resident in each constituency in the United Kingdom in January 2009, together with comparisons with the levels in January 2008 and January 1997. This paper also presents residence-based unemployment rates for all 646 constituencies in the United Kingdom.
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Research Briefing
EU bibliographies: posting of workers
This Note brings together documents relevant to the so-called 'Posted workers Directive', Council Directive 96/71/EC. It is not an attempt to define policy in this area. For information on policy developments contact Jacqueline Parker on extn 4317. See also SN/BT/301 Posted Workers and SN/BT/4501 Government policy on "British jobs for British workers".
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Research Briefing
The Reflection Group Horizon 2020-2030
This Note considers the Reflection Group established by the European Council in December 2007 to discuss the future of Europe.
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Research Briefing
The International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan
This note is intended to be a brief guide to the mandate upon which those forces are deployed; the command and control of forces in the country and the integration of ISAF with the US-led Operation Enduring freedom; current troop contributions and future force rotation plans and commitments. It does not examine either wider political and economic developments in Afghanistan or the ccounter narcotics strategy.
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Research Briefing
Expansion of Heathrow Airport
This paper gives an overview of both the transport and environmental policy background in which this decision has been taken; the planning aspects of the proposal; its anticipated environmental impacts; and relevant statistical issues.
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Research Briefing
Economic indicators, February 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. [Articles: The UK economy in recession; The current UK labour market situation]
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Research Briefing
Nitrate Vulnerable Zones
This note discusses the stricter rules on farming practices and the use of nitrates resulting from belated implementation of an EU Directive
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Research Briefing
Background to Proposals for a British Bill of Rights
The three major political parties have all recently proposed that the UK should adopt a 'British Bill of Rights' of some kind. This paper outlines these proposals and sets them in context.
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Total results (page 427 of 560)