Research Briefing
In 2003 the Government introduced a new Direct Payment scheme, to deal with a problem created by the interaction between the conditions placed on an estate before a grant of probate is issued, and the requirements to pay inheritance tax on that estate. This note describes the introduction of the new scheme.
Research Briefing
This note explains the end of Royal Mail rail services in 2004 and the rapid resumption of services with a different freight company later the same year.
Research Briefing
Changes proposed in the Equality Bill regarding the circumstamces under which religious organisations are allowed to discriminate on grounds of sexual orientation in employment.
Research Briefing
This Note looks at the history surronding, and the legislation involved in, women becoming bishops in the Church of England.
Research Briefing
Details of online sources of historical statistics across all subject areas other than the economy. These sources are either long-term time series or snapshots of a range of data from a specific point in the past.They allow comparisons between the present day and the start of data collection and any intervening period and give an understanding of patterns -have trends been smooth, random, cyclical etc? Snapshots cover a wider range of data and help us make more general comparisons between 'then' and 'now'. Most of the series go back to around the 1920s or earlier. . This note does not include links to economic data or anything to do with family history.
Research Briefing
This Bill would repeal and immediately revive, without amendment, the Video Recordings Act 1984. Its purpose is to rectify a procedural error made during the passage of the Act, thereby to make the latter enforceable in UK courts. It would also allow the Act to be subsequently amended by the Digital Economy Bill 2009-10.
Research Briefing
This note examines measures of hospital standards and patient safety published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Dr. Foster Research Limited and critically appraises the methodology underpinning their assessments. Concerns have been raised about the lack of consistency between the CQC and Dr. Foster ratings; in the final section, a comparison is made between the two, and some explanations for the discrepancies are offered.
Research Briefing
This note outlines the principal amendments made to the Coroners and Justice Bill during its Lords stages. Of particular significance are the amendments relating to secret inquests, the use of intercept evidence, the "free speech" proviso to the offence of inciting hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation, the "crime of passion" defence to murder and the introduction of an Independent Commissioner for Terrorist Suspects.
Research Briefing
Within the context of House of Lords' reform proposals, there has also been discussion of the future of the Lords Spiritual, and questions of whether other faiths groups should have representation in the second chamber. This note discusses these proposals including the Government's most recent White Paper on Lords reform published in July 2008.
Research Briefing
This note examines the effects of 2004 tax cuts on Finnish alcohol consumption and related harm.
Research Briefing
The objective of this note is to explain the concept of hospiral standardised motality ratios, and summarise the statistics relating to HSMRs at mid-Staffordshire that were available before the March-October 2008 Healthcare Commission investigation, and those that came to light afterwards.
Research Briefing
This note provides statistics on the number of fires in schools, and the costs and benefits of sprinkler system installation. It also looks at current regulation governing sprinkler systems in schools.
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