Research Briefing
Retail sector in the UK
Key data and pressures facing the retail sector in the UK.
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Research Briefing
Business and consumer confidence: Economic indicators
Business and consumer sentiment can give an early indication of economic trends. Find the latest data on what businesses and consumers expect for the UK economy.
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Research Briefing
Regulation of hairdressers
Hairdressers and barbers are currently unregulated in the UK. However, they are subject to consumer protection legislation as outlined in this briefing.
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Research Briefing
Vehicle Excise Duty (VED)
This briefing paper explains the policies of successive governments towards the designing of vehicle excise duty (VED). It gives information as to the exemptions and how the Government enforces its collection. It also describes the most recent changes to VED
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Research Briefing
Electric vehicle excise duty (eVED)
The government is planning to introduce electric vehicle excise duty in April 2028, with legislation to be included in the upcoming Finance Bill.
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Research Briefing
Taxation of state pension
The state pension is liable to income tax, though pensioners are unlikely to pay tax in practice if their only income is the state pension.
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Research Briefing
Food poverty: Households, food banks and free school meals
This paper provides statistics on household food insecurity, food bank usage and free school meals in the UK, and tracks the impact of rising living costs.
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Research Briefing
Retrospective taxation
Retrospective tax legislation imposes or increases a tax charge prior to the legislation being introduced. Although this is a controversial practice, retrospective provisions are often introduced to mitigate the risks to the public finances from tax avoidance.
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Research Briefing
High cost of living: Impact on households
This briefing covers how the high period of inflation in the UK from 2021 to 2024 continues to affect household incomes, spending, poverty, savings and debt.
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Research Briefing
VAT on solar panels and other energy-saving materials
The installation of energy-saving materials (such as solar panels) on eligible buildings is zero-rated for VAT until 31 March 2027.
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Research Briefing
Retail sales: Economic indicators
Retail is a large component of the UK’s services industry. Find the latest data on sales of food and non-food goods as well as online sales.
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Research Briefing
Connect to Work
Connect to Work is a government programme to help people with disabilities or other complex issues to find and stay in work. It started in 2025 and runs till 2030.
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Research Briefing
Interest rates and monetary policy: Economic indicators
Monetary policy affects the amount of money in the economy and the costs of borrowing. Find the latest data on interest rates in the UK, US and Eurozone.
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Research Briefing
Fuel duty: Developments since 2022
Fuel duty is charged at a rate of 52.95p per litre on unleaded petrol and diesel. Fuel duty is planned to increase by 3p per litre on 1 January 2027, the first increase since 2011.
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Research Briefing
Average earnings by age and region
This interactive dashboard shows how median earnings have changed over time by UK region and country, and by age group and gender.
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