When taking on a volunteer or voluntary intern you should ensure that you and the intern have agreed and signed the IPSA Model Volunteer Agreement.

See: https://www.ipsaonline.org.uk/guidance/new-starters

Calling all caseworkers…..

Here are a couple of resources which you may find helpful for certain groups among your constituents:

1. The first one is run by the Royal British Legion for certain members of the armed services in need of help and support: http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/can-we-help/care-and-support/in-home-services/handy-van.
2. The second, run by Age UK, offers older people extra help with small practical jobs to make their lives life easier and safer around the home: http://www.ageuk.org.uk/home-and-care/home-safety-and-security/handyperson-services/.

If you know of other such services which you have found useful let w4mp know and we will spread the word.  Email the information to us at editor@w4mp.org.

It’s Parliament Week and this year’s theme is Women in Democracy.

To mark the occasion, the Electoral Reform Society has developed an online app which shows how much more needs to be done to reach gender parity in the House of Commons.

Find out if your constituency has ever been represented by a woman – use their online app and don’t forget to share the results with your friends!

The Electoral Reform Society firmly believes that our parliamentary representatives should reflect the diversity of Britain. Currently, only one in five Westminster MPs are women – yet women make up 51% of the population of Britain. Over half of constituencies have never had a female MP.

The ERS is urging all political parties to get serious about improving the diversity of selected candidates in winnable seats. Only then will we have a truly representative cross-section of MPs who can help build a better democracy in Britain.

What are your thoughts? Email them at ERS@electoral-reform.org.uk, or share what you think on their Facebook page and on Twitter.

From 1 December 2013 w4mpjobs will no longer be accepting some adverts for work that does not pay at least the current rate of national minimum wage (see https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage).

The exceptions to this (ie, ads that pay less than national minimum wage that we will still accept) are:

• Adverts for voluntary work for registered charities.  Please note that if you are a charity, from 1 December you will be asked to include your registered charity number when submitting an advert.  Without this, your advert will not be accepted.
• Adverts for volunteers for any of the political parties represented in the UK parliaments or assemblies – this includes voluntary work for MPs, MSPs or assembly members, local party constituency groups, local council constituency groups, prospective parliamentary/assembly candidates, prospective councillors and any other specifically party political related volunteer work.
• Adverts from legitimate political organisations asking for one-off or short term voluntary help with a specific project.
• Adverts for voluntary contributors to political websites and blogs.

These are the only exceptions which we will make. Please do not ask us to make any others.

A NOTE FOR MPs: when taking on a voluntary intern you should ensure that you and the intern have agreed and signed the IPSA Model Volunteer Intern Agreement. See IPSA Model Volunteer Agreement.

Important note: w4mp reserves the right to refuse any adverts which do not fulfill the above criteria or which, for any other reason, are deemed to be inappropriate for w4mpjobs.

The Government has announced a consultation looking at charging principles which begins on 12 November and will last for 3 weeks.

See here for further information: http://bit.ly/17uw3Pv

Parliament Week 2013 will be taking place from 15-21 November 2013.

In 2012, Parliament Week attracted 95 partners across the country, ranging from local museums to universities and national organisations. As a result of these partnerships, the Parliament Week programme included a fantastic range of events, including debates, exhibitions, talks and online activities, and attracted thousands of participants.

Members of the House of Commons and the House of Lord take an active part in Parliament Week – visiting schools, taking part in debates and attending events across the country.

All you need to know is here: http://www.parliamentweek.org/.

Please note that links to the old Parliamentary intranet have been removed as of October 2023. Please use search on ParliNet to find relevant current details, if available.

https://parlinet.parliament.uk/house-of-commons-members-staff/

On the 14^th October we welcomed the third cohort of the Speaker’s Parliamentary Placement Scheme to the House of Commons.

Over the nine-month duration the scheme places interns in an MP’s office for four days per week, while the remaining day is spent in a rotating placement across the House of Commons Service, as well as training and away days with the some of the scheme’s sponsors. This allows the interns to gain a unique and worthwhile experience of how Parliament and the world of business works.

The House of Commons Commission approved the establishment of the Speaker’s Parliamentary Placement Scheme, and launched the first cohort of interns on Monday 7 November 2011. The scheme, an initiative of Hazel Blears MP working with the Social Mobility Foundation, offers 10 paid internships to people from diverse backgrounds and helps to make access to and experience of Parliament more representative of the UK population.

Hazel Blears, Labour MP for Salford and Eccles, said: “I believe that valuable opportunities like these should be open to all talented people, regardless of their background or wealth. It was this belief that inspired me to set up the paid Speakers’ Parliamentary Placement Scheme and drives me in campaigning against unpaid internships. I have been thrilled by some of our interns’ success stories and hope the scheme will prove just as rewarding for its third cohort.”

The first two years of this scheme have been very successful; of the 2012/2013 cohort six out of the nine interns have secured jobs: five working for MPs and one with an external employer. Christine Longworth, from last year’s cohort said “This scheme has completely changed the direction of my life for the better. As well as securing an amazing permanent job, and being proud and fulfilled with what I do for a living for the first time ever, it has improved my own confidence, self-esteem and self-worth. I’ve made myself and my family proud, and I couldn’t have done that without the SPPS”.

Speaker Bercow kindly hosted the launch of this year’s placement scheme with a reception on Wednesday 30^th October in his State Apartments. Also in attendance was Secretary of State Michael Gove MP, Hazel Blears MP and many other Members, Heads of Department and Corporate Partners who have supported the scheme, including the Social Mobility Foundation, which have supported the scheme since its inception.

One of this year’s participants, Felix Parker-Smith now working within the Office of Stephen Barclay MP, said “The Speaker’s scheme was fantastic as it has challenged the status quo, which appears to preference those who can afford to intern for free and those who have the privilege of living in London. It has truly helped people from a variety of backgrounds overcome social and geographic obstacles to gain political experience at an institution that previously appeared to be very closed to them.”  

Another participant, John McKenna working within the Office of Alan Johnson MP, commented that: “the scheme has given me a chance to pursue a career in something I am passionate about, which I don’t think I would have been able to do without the support of the scheme. On a personal level, I have met a whole bunch of people both on and off the scheme who I am sure I will have lasting friendships with. Even though it’s still early days the scheme has a huge positive impact on my life both professionally and personally”.

If any Members of Parliament are interested in supporting the scheme by taking on an intern within their office, please contact the Jo Fletcher in the Diversity and Inclusion Team on extension x2948.

Applications for the 4th cohort will be open in March 2014. For more information please visit the Social Mobility Foundation website.

Further information can be also found on this intranet page

Dean Trench has more timely advice for you this week: How Your Boss Will Celebrate Bonfire Night.

It’s scurrilous, it’s defamatory; in a word it has everything a staffer ever wanted to say to his/her boss but didn’t dare.

Rules are in place across the Parliamentary Estate in relation to filming and photography for a variety of purposes including maintaining security, safety, privacy, and neutrality.

There is a limited number of areas where photographs may be taken and these should be in connection with parliamentary work.  Guidelines on taking photographs are available to be viewed on ParliNet.

Separate rules apply to news broadcasts, live interviews, and filming and photography for commercial purpose.