Research briefings

This page provides access to research briefings produced by the House of Commons Library, the House of Lords Library and the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST). You can filter the research briefings by date, type, or one of 350 topics. Pick your options from the dropdown menus.

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    Glossary

    • Commons Briefing papers: Papers providing in-depth and impartial analysis on every major piece of primary legislation and on other topics of public and parliamentary concern. Regular statistics papers are also published.
    • Lords Library Notes: Authored publications by the research section of the House of Lords Library that provide analysis of Bills, subjects for debate in the House and other issues of interest to Members.
    • POSTbriefs: Responsive policy briefings from the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology based on mini-literature reviews and peer review, typically commissioned by select committees and library research services.
    • POSTnotes: Proactive four-page policy briefings from the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology based on reviews of the research literature, interviews with stakeholders and peer review, commissioned by the POST Board.
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    Topics

    Topics: Research material can be filtered by subject using the topic terms. The topics are arranged in a taxonomy (a hierarchical classification) and can be further filtered using sub-topics.

Displaying 61-80 out of 8852

Brexit reading list: defence and security
Published Wednesday, January 15, 2020 | Commons Briefing papers CBP-7742
The Commons Library has compiled a selection of analysis and comment on defence and security related matters, relevant to the UK's forthcoming withdrawal from the European Union.

Topics: Armed forces, Defence equipment and procurement, Defence policy, EU defence policy

Gross Domestic Product (GDP): Key Economic Indicators
Published Wednesday, January 15, 2020 | Commons Briefing papers SN02783
UK Gross Domestic Product: Regularly updated data on growth and forecasts.

Topic: Economic situation

Housing Market: Key Economic Indicators
Published Wednesday, January 15, 2020 | Commons Briefing papers SN02820
Housing market: Data on house prices, mortgage approvals and house-building.

Topics: Economic situation, Housing

North Korea: January 2020 update
Published Wednesday, January 15, 2020 | Commons Briefing papers CBP-8793
US-North Korea tensions in 2017 over the latter's nuclear weapons ambitions were replaced by dialogue and detente between 2018 and mid-2019. However, after two face-to-face summits between President Donald Trump and his Korean counterpart Kim Jong-un, the mood has darkened once again. This briefing reviews developments over the past 18 months and assesses future prospects.

Topics: Asia, Defence equipment and procurement, Defence policy, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, International politics and government, North America

Mapping the Places
Published Wednesday, January 15, 2020 | Commons Briefing papers CBP-8778
A comparison of administrative boundaries used by public bodies in England, including maps.

Topics: Local government, Public administration

Policing in the UK: Governance, Oversight and Complaints
Published Tuesday, January 14, 2020 | Lords Library notes LLN-2020-0013
This House of Lords Library Briefing sets out how the police service in the UK is governed, including details of recent reforms. It also focuses on how the police are held accountable for their actions through systems of oversight and complaints.

Topics: Ministers, Non-departmental public bodies, Northern Ireland Assembly, Police, Scottish Parliament

UK trade with Ireland
Published Tuesday, January 14, 2020 | Commons Briefing papers CBP-8173
Ireland is one of the UK's largest trading partners. This note gives some key statistics on UK-Ireland trade.

Topics: International economic relations, International trade

TV licence fee statistics
Published Tuesday, January 14, 2020 | Commons Briefing papers CBP-8101
This briefing provides statistics on the TV licence fee and general television viewing trends. TV licence fee revenues grew from £3.5 billion in 2010/11 to over £3.7 billion in 2018/19 (in cash terms).Total BBC income in 2018/19 was £4.89 billion. TV licence fee revenues accounted for around 76% of total income.

Topics: Broadcasting, Information technology, Media, Press

Hate crime
Published Tuesday, January 14, 2020 | Commons Briefing papers CBP-8791
This briefing looks at the law on hate crime in England and Wales.

Topics: Crimes of violence, Criminal law, Public order offences

Racism in Football: Tackling Abusive Behaviour
Published Tuesday, January 14, 2020 | Lords Library notes LLN-2020-0012
This House of Lords Library Briefing describes recent measures introduced by the footballing authorities, individual clubs and social media companies to tackle racism in football, and details existing legislation in this area.

Topic: Public order offences

Review of Post-18 Education and Funding
Published Tuesday, January 14, 2020 | Commons Briefing papers CBP-8239
On 19 February 2018, the Prime Minister, Theresa May, announced in a speech that there would be a “wide-ranging review into post-18 education” led by Philip Augar. The review is to look at how future students will contribute to the cost of their studies, including “the level, terms and duration of their contribution.” The Prime Minister discounted the idea of moving back to a fully taxpayer funded system. It is expected that the review will report in early 2019.

Topics: Adult education, Further education, Higher education, Students

Pensioner benefits
Published Tuesday, January 14, 2020 | Commons Briefing papers SN06354
Looks at the main benefits available to pensioners, in addition to the State Pension, and the debate on whether they should be reformed

Topics: Benefits policy, Pensions, Sickness, disability and carers' benefits

Pavement and on-street parking in England
Published Tuesday, January 14, 2020 | Commons Briefing papers SN01170
This paper outlines the general legal position on what is generally called ‘pavement parking’ and the measures available to the police and local authorities to tackle it.

Topic: Roads

Employment Bill 2019-20
Published Monday, January 13, 2020 | Commons Briefing papers CBP-8790
The Employment Bill 2019-20 was announced in the Queen’s Speech on 19 December 2019. No date is yet available for second reading

Topic: Employment

Local authority support for children in need (England)
Published Monday, January 13, 2020 | Commons Briefing papers CBP-7730
This briefing provides information on the definition and identification of "children in need" as set out in the Children Act 1989, the assessment process, and the services available to children in need and their families in England.

Topics: Children and families, Children's social services

Components of GDP: Key Economic Indicators
Published Monday, January 13, 2020 | Commons Briefing papers SN02787
Components of GDP: data on the components that make up GDP, including household consumption, government spending, investment, trade and output by sector.

Topic: Economic situation

Debate on the Address: Health and Social Care
Published Monday, January 13, 2020 | Commons Debate packs CDP-2020-0001
On 16 January 2020, a Debate on the Address will be held in the House of Commons on Health and Social Care.

Topics: Health services, Medicine

Petrol and diesel prices
Published Monday, January 13, 2020 | Commons Briefing papers SN04712
Average mid-December prices for petrol and diesel were 124.7 and 129.8 pence per litre respectively. They have changed relatively little over the past 12 months. The UK has the 9th highest petrol and 2nd highest diesel prices in the EU

Topics: Energy, Oil, petrol and natural gas, Roads

Apprenticeship statistics for England
Published Monday, January 13, 2020 | Commons Briefing papers SN06113
This note presents and analyses data on the number of people starting apprenticeships in England and statistics for Parliamentary Constituencies in England.

Topics: Employment schemes, Training

Aviation: FAQs for 2020
Published Monday, January 13, 2020 | Commons Briefing papers CBP-8739

Topic: Aviation

Displaying 61-80 out of 8852

About libraries

House of Commons Library

The House of Commons Library provides research, analysis and information services for MPs and their staff.

House of Lords Library

The House of Lords Library delivers research and information services to Members and staff of the House in support of parliamentary business.

POST

The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology produces independent, balanced and accessible briefings on public policy issues related to science and technology.

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