Research Briefing
Control of Horses Bill 2014-15
There are proposals to update fly-grazing legislation. This note covers the private Members' bill put forward by Julian Sturdy MP.
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Research Briefing
Local Government Finance Settlement 2015/16 – initial analysis
Settlement funding assessments for local authorities will decrease by 13.9% and the overall reduction in Spending power, a measure of The total funding available to local authorities (excluding the GLA), was confirmed as 1.8%. The Government will again be offering Council Tax Freeze Grant to those authorities that freeze their council tax in 2015/16. Local authorities raising their council tax by 2% or more will have to hold a local referendum on the proposal.
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Research Briefing
Local government devolution: fiscal proposals
This note analyses proposals in the mid-2010s for new taxes, charges and fiscal powers for local government in England, plus proposed changes to the system of local government finance and for additional powers to borrow.
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Research Briefing
Local government: polls and referendums
This note provides information on the various types of referendum which may be (and in some circumstances must be) conducted by local authorities.
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Research Briefing
House of Commons sitting of the UK Youth Parliament – November 2014
This special briefing paper has been produced to help Members of Youth Parliament (MYPs) prepare for the House of Commons sitting of the UK Youth Parliament which takes place on 14 November.
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Research Briefing
English local government finance: issues and options
Local government finance in England has experienced substantial changes since 2010. This paper examines the challenges that local authorities have faced from reductions in central government funding, and how they have responded to these. Local authorities have been using a number of strategies to cope with reduced funding, including community budgets, city deals, efficiency savings, combined authorities and shared services. They have also reduced or redesigned services, and collected more local taxes where possible.
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Research Briefing
Whither the UKIP vote? The 2014 local elections and implications for 2015
Eight weeks on from the 2014 European and local elections, the election results may be out of the headlines but parties are left with much to ponder as to what it means for their chances at the general election next May. UKIP’s extraordinary performance saw them secure 24 of the 73 European Parliament seats (up
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Research Briefing
Unemployment and changes of government
There is a common perception that when a government leaves office, unemployment is higher than when they entered. We look at historic data to see how accurate this claim is.
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Research Briefing
Why can’t I film meetings at my council?
This blog post was updated on the 15 July due to new legislation being passed. There have been a number of media reports, from 2011 onwards, regarding individuals who have attempted to film council meetings on their cameras or mobile phones and have been prevented from doing so by the council (for example, see here*).
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Research Briefing
Local elections 2014
Local and mayoral elections were held in England and Northern Ireland on 22 May 2014. In England, elections were held in all 32 London boroughs, 36 metropolitan boroughs, 19 unitary authorities, and 74 shire districts. Labour had a net gain of four councils, the Conservatives a net loss of 13 and the Liberal Democrats a net loss of two. The first local elections were also held to 11 new councils in Northern Ireland in accordance with timetabled reform to local government administration.
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Research Briefing
Queen’s Speech 2014
This Standard Note gathers together announcements from ministers and speculation from commentators on the issues that might be included in the forthcoming Queen’s Speech.
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Research Briefing
Pre-election contacts between civil servants and opposition parties
By convention, opposition parties are entitled to enter into confidential discussions with senior civil servants in the run-up to a general election. This note outlines the current arrangements and also provides a brief history of the convention.
Total results (page 49 of 62)