Research Briefing
Police and Crime Commissioners
This Library briefing describes the role and functions of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs). It explains how they work with police chiefs and how they are held accountable.
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Research Briefing
Main Estimates: Government spending plans for 2021-22
This briefing summarises 2021-22’s Main Estimates, the way in which Parliament approves the Government’s spending plans for the year.
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Research Briefing
Tree planting in the UK
Tree planting policies aim to increase tree cover in the UK, improve biodiversity, reduce climate emissions and provide income from agroforestry. The England Trees Action Plan 2021-24 was published in May 2021.It aims to treble tree planting by the end of the current Parliament, funded by more than £500 million of climate finance.
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Research Briefing
Equality of access and outcomes in higher education in England
How likely are different groups of young people to go to higher education? When they get there how likely are they to continue to the end of their course and get 'top' grades? How do earnings and employment vary between these groups? This paper looks at equality in undergraduate education in England. It summarises the latest data on access and outcomes before looking at Government policy, the role of the Office for Students, and the actions and responsibilities of universities.
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Research Briefing
Recall elections
Recall is used to describe a process where the electorate in an area can trigger a special election to remove an elected representative before the end of their term. A recall procedure was introduced in the UK in 2015. It only applies to Members of Parliament.
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Research Briefing
Coronavirus: international dimensions
The Library has published a series of briefings on international dimensions of the coronavirus pandemic since March 2020, ranging from general surveys of its impact on developing countries to assessments of its effects in specific situations. Links to these briefings can be found here.
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Research Briefing
Covax and global access to Covid-19 vaccines
The purchasing and administration of Covid-19 vaccines has been dominated by richer economies. In April 2020, the Covax initiative was established to ensure fair access to vaccines. This paper sets out how Covax works, the challenges it faces, and the contributions of the UK and other high-income economies to the global distribution of vaccines.
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Research Briefing
Coronavirus: Economic impact
The pandemic has led to a severe recession. This briefing examines different aspects of the economic impact of the crisis to date and outlines the key issues for the economic outlook.
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Research Briefing
How Parliament treats treaties
This paper looks at how Parliament scrutinises and ratifies international treaties.
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Research Briefing
Flags:the Union Flag and Flags of the United Kingdom
Flags, national and other, have an ongoing cultural significance. The Union Flag, commonly known as the Union Jack, is the national flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Flying of flags is not the subject of statute law in England, Wales or Scotland. Advice is issued by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on flying of flags on government buildings, apart from those which are the responsibility of a devolved administration. This was recently updated so that the Union flag will normally be flown every day. In Northern Ireland there is legislation on flag flying.
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Research Briefing
Coronavirus: UK support to the Overseas Territories
There are 14 British Overseas Territories across the globe with a total population of 260,000. The Territories differ greatly in their level of economic and social development and their population size. Since March 2020 the UK Government has been working with the Overseas Territories to ensure that they receive the help they need to manage outbreaks of Covid-19.
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Research Briefing
Employment by Country of Birth and Nationality
This Commons Library briefing paper analyses data on employment in the UK by country of birth and nationality. The briefing compares data from 1997 to 2021 and explains how figures for employment by nationality can differ to those for employment by country of birth.
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Research Briefing
Unemployment by ethnic background
This short paper summarises trends in unemployment rates and looks at how rates vary by ethnicity, age and gender.
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Research Briefing
Coronavirus: Legacy benefits and the Universal Credit ‘uplift’
This paper outlines the debate around the Government's policy to increase Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit payments, but not payments of DWP means-tested legacy benefits for people of working age, during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Research Briefing
Regulating online harms
The Government published a draft Online Safety Bill on 12 May 2021. This Library Paper gives policy background and a brief overview of comment.
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