Monday 5th January 2009
HOUSE OF COMMONS
The House of Commons is in recess.
HOUSE OF LORDS
The House of Lords is in recess.
Scotland
The Scottish Parliament is in recess.
Wales
The Welsh Assembly is in recess.
Northern Ireland
The Northern Ireland Assembly is in recess.
London Assembly
The London Assembly is in recess.
European Parliament
The European Parliament is in recess.
Press Releases, Speeches and Conferences
Prime Minister Gordon Brown holds talks with top business, union and regional figures at a meeting of the Government's Regional Economic Council. Chancellor Alistair Darling, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, Skills Secretary John Denham and Regional Ministers are also attending.
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn speaks at the Oxford Farming Conference.
Conservative leader David Cameron delivers a keynote speech on the economy, setting out new party policies and attacking Labour for damaging Britain's financial position.
The Conservatives have warned that the education gap between children from England's richest and poorest areas is widening.
The Public Administration Committee calls for the lobbying industry to be subject to tighter regulation. The Committee of MPs also recommends that all lobbying activity should be monitored and registered through a tougher watchdog.
The proportion of children achieving five good GCSEs, including English and maths, in schools where more than half of the pupils were eligible for free school meals dropped to 13 per cent in 2007. But in schools where less than one in 10 pupils were eligible for free school meals, the proportion achieving five good GCSEs rose to 58 per cent.
The Scottish Conservatives have called for more rigorous testing of pupils in primary schools. Party spokeswoman Liz Smith said Scottish Government plans to introduce stand-alone literacy and numeracy tests in S4 will not fully tackle the problem.
Reports and Statistics
A Prince's Trust survey of 16 to 25-year-olds finds that one in 10 young people believe life is not worth living or is meaningless.
Lloyds TSB Scotland publishes its Business Monitor, surveying 1,954 firms and finding that more than half reported that their turnover had fallen in the quarter to the end of November 2008.
HM Revenue and Customs releases data on hydrocarbon oils.
Recess Dates
Constituency week:
Thursday 7 - Monday February 18 2008
Easter:
Thursday 3 - Monday April 21 2008
Whitsun:
Thursday May 22 - Monday June 2 2008
Summer:
Tuesday July 22 - Monday October 6 2008
