Transparency in Brexit negotiations is a key priority for the European Commission. They now have a dedicated website which brings together all of their documents and position papers.
Consultation on EU (Withdrawal) Bill
The Scottish Parliament’s Finance and Constitution Committee is calling for views on the impact of the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill on the devolution settlement. http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/CurrentCommittees/105772.aspx
The committee will consider the Bill, as well as the expected legislative consent memorandum, after the summer recess
The closing date for responses is Friday 29 September 2017.
UK contribution to EU Budget, Living Abroad, and Physical Activity Levels of Scottish Children – New Official Publications 14.08.17
Newly published official publications from :
Westminster and the UK Government
Image copyright: UK Parliament
The UK’s contribution to the EU budget – “This note considers how much the UK contributes to the EU budget and how much it receives back. Potential payments to the EU on or after Brexit – such as the exit bill – are also discussed.”
Employment tribunal fees – “Employment tribunal fees were introduced in July 2013, and declared unlawful by the Supreme Court in July 2017.”
Railway passenger franchises – “This is one of two briefing papers on rail passenger franchising. This paper sets out the terms of the various rail franchises in England, Wales and Scotland. A second paper, SN6521, sets out in more detail how franchising works and the franchising policy of successive governments.”
Digital Skills in the United Kingdom – “This Lords Library briefing has been prepared in advance of…
View original post 1,170 more words
Research briefings on Brexit
The Libraries of the House of Commons and House of Lords and the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) produce research briefings on a wide range of issues. Intended to aid the work of members of the Houses of Parliament by providing relevant background material they are also useful to anyone starting to research a current topic.
Recent titles on how leaving the EU will affect different policy areas in the UK include:
Importance of trade with the EU for UK industries: Examines the importance of trade with the EU for the sectors and industries of the UK economy.
Employment of other EU nationals in the UK: Provides statistics on nationals of other EU countries working in the UK.
Brexit: the July negotiations: What happened at the second round of Brexit negotiations?
Brexit negotiations: The Irish border question: One of the three main areas of discussion…
View original post 107 more words
International and EU students in higher education in the UK
© University of Aberdeen
“In recent years, the UK has been the second most popular global destination for international students after the USA. In 2014 the US took 26% of postgraduate students from all countries who were studying overseas at universities in the OECD, the UK was in second place with 15%. But market share has been slipping and other English speaking countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada are now seeing significant increases in overseas students as are European countries which are increasingly offering courses in English”.
A new House of Commons briefing paper answers some frequently asked questions about international and EU students in the UK. It provides lots of statistics and considers the potential impact of both Brexit and the net migration target on international and EU student recruitment.
You can access the report here.
Writing blog content can be challenging!
Morag Higgison from the Scottish Government Library has written a blog post for the Scottish Government intranet on blogging !! Most importantly, on good practice in blogging.
I hope that you will be inspired by her post and I shall expect to be inundated with content from you all for these pages!
A tale of a Government cat — Open Book
“The Exchequer Office in Parliament Close, Edinburgh, set up in 1708, initially had problems with records being ‘greatly damnified, eaten and destroyed by rates and myce’. After giving the matter some thought, doorkeeper Robert Morison decided that perhaps a cat might give the rodents pause.”
While the exploits of Whitehall Cats – Palmerston and Larry most recently – have been recently making the news, cats in Government employ are nothing new. In fact, here at National Records of Scotland, we have evidence of a feline curiosity – a cat tasked with protecting records more than three centuries ago. The Exchequer […]
Scottish Official Publication Listing – July 2017
The latest Scottish Official Publication Listings can now be viewed here: July 2017
Early Scottish School examination papers are now available digitally
As many young people across Scotland await their exam results the National Library of Scotland is giving you an opportunity to look at the Scottish schools exam papers of bygone years. The digitised exam papers for the School Leavers Certificate from 1889-1961 and the Scottish Certificate of Education 1962-63 and these are now available to…
via Are exams getting easier? — National Library of Scotland Blog
Shrinkflation, ethnic minorities in politics and public life, and ecosystem accounts – Newly published Official Publications 31.07.17
Newly published official publications from :
Westminster and the UK Government
Image copyright: UK Parliament / Jessica Taylor
Ethnic Minorities in Politics and Public life: “The latest estimate from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Population Survey 2016 indicates that 13.6% of the UK population is non-white.” This report contains data on ethnic minority representation in Parliament, including devolved administrations, civil service and other public sector organisations.
What is the Council of Europe?“This Commons Library briefing gives a short introduction to the 47-member Council of Europe, which is a human rights and democracy organisation, entirely separate from the EU. Its best-known products are the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights that oversees how the Convention is implemented.”
Policy paper: Air quality plan for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in UK. “Statutory air quality plan for nitrogen dioxide (NO2), setting out how the…
View original post 910 more words
Euratom, Double Deflation, and the Irish Border
Newly published official publications from : Westminster and the UK Government Increases in the State Pension age for women born in the 1950s – “Briefing regarding the WASPI campaign and the impact of legislation increasing the State Pension age for women born in the 1950s. The Pensions Act 1995 provided for the State Pension age (SPA) […]
Brexit and Devolution report published today— EDC Information Update
The House of Lords European Union Committee has today published a report looking at the technically complex and politically contentious impact of Brexit on the UK’s devolution settlements and to the fundamental constitutional challenges presented to the United Kingdom as a whole. “the devolution settlements are built upon UK membership of the EU. Brexit will remove one […]
Royal Botanic Garden’s Library , Edinburgh – Government Information Group visit
Report on the visit by Sarah Louise McDonald, Sherrif Court Librarian
On the 7th of July GIG group members visited the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Library, Scotland’s national collection of botanical and horticultural literature. Scottish Working Forum for Official Publications (SWOP) and Edinburgh Libraries Information Services Agency (ELISA) members were also invited to attend.
The main entrance to the Library and Archive can be accessed via the main entrance off Inverleith Row, though my colleagues and I took a brief stroll through the gardens before meeting Lorna Mitchell, the Head of the Library and Archives, in the Herbarium foyer which set the scene nicely!
The collection houses around 4,200 journal titles and 70,000 books, the earliest of which dates from 1485 and is a record of herbal medicinal plants which belonged to the Regius Keeper. Books were bought at this time by the Botanical Society of Edinburgh but treated like personal possessions so it was common for them to be sold off to supplement members’ incomes. After the establishment of the library in 1873 they were bought, returned or donated to form part of the early collection. It was only in 1964 when the library moved to their current building that the accessions were all housed together, though even now some treasures may be hidden away in offices!
EU bookshop
The EU Bookshop is an online bookshop, library and archive of publications from the EU institutions and agencies going back to 1952 and includes work produced jointly with partner institutions. Most publications can be downloaded in pdf format free of charge.
It is accessible via the EU Law and Publications portal.
Brexit weekly update from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe)
The latest update is now available
If you would like to join the mailing list, please click the following link: SPICe Brexit Update.
Follow on twitter or consult back issues of the update.
