On 25 October 1968 the Race Relations Act received royal assent. The Act sought to build on the Race Relations Act 1965, which at the time was widely regarded as providing insufficient protection from discrimination, by extending prohibition of racial discrimination in relation to housing, employment and public services, as well as strengthening the Race Relations Board. This briefing sets out the chronology of how the Race Relations Act 1968 came to be passed, referring for context to the passage through Parliament earlier that year of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act.
Race Relations Act 1968: 50th Anniversary (166KB PDF)
Race Relations Act 1968: 50th Anniversary (166KB PDF)
In January 2026, the government announced a new scheme to support urgent repairs and essential improvements to listed places of worship. Called the ‘Places of worship renewal fund for England’, it replaced the ‘Listed places of worship grant scheme’ which had run since 2001. This briefing provides an overview of both schemes, the government’s reasoning for the change and the reaction of stakeholders.
There have been big differences in expenditure across different forms of healthcare for a number of years. In 2024/25, spending on acute care was £74.7bn, compared to £14.5bn on primary care and £13.8bn on community services. Both the 2024 Labour Party manifesto and the subsequent 10 year health plan for England contained an emphasis on shifting towards more care being delivered in local communities rather than in acute settings, dubbed a ‘neighbourhood health service’.
Concerns about abuse and intimidation towards elected representatives have increased in recent years. The Jo Cox Civility Commission made a number of recommendations in a 2024 report to address this because of concerns that this activity would dissuade people from standing in elections and encourage existing representatives to stand down. The government has instigated a number of policies to tackle the abuse and intimidation of elected representatives.
