News

News

Spaces on Writing Skills course, Glasgow

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There are still available places for the essential Writing Skills course offered in Scotland on 20 September for MP staff.  If you would like to attend just click on the highlighted course name below and it will take you directly to the course booking page provided that you are already logged in to the Parliamentary network. Alternatively contact the Commons Learning and Development team

Places on these courses are free for staff and travel expenses can be reclaimed via IPSA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

GLASGOW

20-Sept

10:00- 16:30

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Essential Writing Skills

 

Who can attend this course

This course is open to all Members’ staff.

 

Course Overview and Content

The course will cover the principles of good written communication and how to put them into practice.  It will look at some essentials about the use of language, grammar, tone and writing style and will include an introduction to the ‘Plain English’ approach to business writing.

 

Learning Objectives

By the end of the session participants will be able to:

•plan and structure information in letters, emails and other routine communications

•apply an efficient method to write more clearly and concisely in order to get their message across, and to identify supporting information

•proofread and edit their own writing

•make sure they get their intended response

Moving Westminster from… Westminster

Commons in Session
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The proposals to refurbish the Palace of Westminster from the Restoration and Renewal Programme  have received extensive media coverage, with Metro reporting:

“MPs could be forced to move out of the Houses of Parliament for six years while the buildings undergo major renovations.

The Palace of Westminster faces an ‘impending crisis’ and is at risk of a ‘catastrophic event’, MPs and peers have warned.”

This in turn led to a rash of petitions calling for Parliament to be permanently located out of London, such as this one on 38 Degrees

Re-build parliament outside London rather than renovating Westminster, with over 1500 signatures.  w4mp has no view on this matter, of course, and as a distributed organisation it will continue to serve MPs staff wherever their offices may be located. But others may feel differently about the prospect of swapping Zone 1 for the M1…

Hoby’s First Hundred

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Today we publish the one hundredth cartoon drawn for w4mp by the talented Hoby, and we’ve pulled together ten of the best to commemorate this important milestone.

Each month we’ve glimpsed the inner workings of Parliament, and been shocked, awed and occasionally deeply embarrassed by what we’ve found. Onward to the next century!

Hoby Cartoon

Hoby Cartoon #13

Hoby Cartoon

Hoby Cartoon #15

Hoby Cartoon

Hoby Cartoon #20

Hoby Cartoon

Hoby Cartoon

Hoby Cartoon

Hoby Cartoon #55

Hoby Cartoon

Hoby Cartoon #63

Hoby Cartoon #70

Hoby Cartoon #70

Hoby Cartoon

Hoby Cartoon #87

Hoby Cartoon

Hoby Cartoon #92

Hoby Cartoon

Hoby Cartoon #93

Five new POSTnotes

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The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology has recently published the following POSTnotes:

Managing the UK Plutonium Stockpile

This POSTnote describes the state of the plutonium stockpile, current plutonium policy and the options for managing the plutonium: indefinite storage, reuse in UK power plants, conversion to fuel to send overseas and disposal as waste. It then outlines the safety, security, economic and energy policy implications of these options.

Integrating Health and Social Care

The four UK nations have committed to better integration between health and social care as one solution to these challenges. This briefing outlines what integration is, examines policies to enable it and gives examples of integration in England. It also looks at the evidence on the challenges of achieving integration and assessing the effectiveness of approaches.

Electronic cigarettes

This POSTnote updates POSTnote 455 (January 2014), summarising the latest data on scale of use, safety and quality of electronic cigarettes, and their value as a stop smoking tool. It also explores the implications of the new EU Tobacco Products Directive and regulatory approaches in the UK.

Automation and the Workforce

Automation technologies can reduce costs and raise productivity. However, there is considerable uncertainty over their potential effects on the UK workforce. This note provides an overview of how these technologies are being used; and potential implications for employment, skills, education and inequality in the coming decades.

New Drugs for Dementia

A POSTnote outlining the challenges in developing new drugs to treat dementia, and an overview of UK and international research activities to accelerate progress.

 

Parliament Week drop in session, 8 September

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This year’s UK Parliament Week will take place from 14-20 November 2016. Preparations are now in full swing, but we need your help. This is your chance to get constituents more involved in Parliament.

The UK Parliament Week project team are hosting an informal drop-in session with refreshments on 8 September in Portcullis House, Room Q, from 12-4pm where you’ll be invited to:

  • Collect an information pack  about UK Parliament Week
  • Fill out your resource request form
  • Find out if there are events registered in your constituency
  • Discuss the many ways in which your MP can participate in UK Parliament Week, such as visiting a school, tweeting, or holding an event in their constituency.

If you’re not based at Westminster but would like further information, please just let us know. We can arrange a one to one call with you about holding an event for your constituents. We can also post you a Parliament Week information pack.

If you’d like to get in contact, please email us; ukparliamentweek@parliament.uk or call 02072195175.

Summer Tips for IT Services

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The Parliamentary Digital Service has kindly offered some advice for maintaining consistent, simple and relatively secure access to your Parliamentary IT services over the summer recess.

Easier access to your services via Microsoft 365

Thanks to Microsoft 365, you can access your email and calendar in the following ways:

1.       On any Parliamentary supplied laptop or desktop connected to the internet, just open Outlook.

2.       On any computer or tablet, go to office.com, click ‘Sign In’ at the top-right corner of the screen, and enter your normal username, password and PINSafe code.

Is your password going to expire?

If you’ve not changed your password in the last month, please do so before going on leave – this will ensure that it doesn’t expire over the summer and impact access to your Parliamentary ICT services.

To change your password, you should be logged into your network account on a Parliamentary supplied laptop or desktop, press CTRL + ALT + DEL and select ‘Change a Password’.

Please ensure that you use a strong password – one that uses a combination of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols.

Working away from the Parliamentary Estate and abroad

Avoid using Wi-Fi networks that are not password protected, especially those in public places.

If you do need to connect to publicly accessible Wi-Fi, avoid logging in (entering user names and passwords) to banking, social media and other sites containing sensitive information.

If you use a Parliamentary iPad abroad, please see the attached document for advice about security and data roaming. This advice is also useful for personal iPads and smartphones.

Please note that passengers flying into or out of the UK are advised to ensure electronic and electrical devices in hand luggage are sufficiently charged to be switched on (to comply with airport security checks).

 We also recommend you visit the cyber security ParliNet pages for additional guidance.

What it’s like to work for an MP: Video

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Last November 2015 the Mile End Institute at Queen Mary University of London hosted a Perspectives on Parliament event about the real life of MPs’ staff.

Janet Walker, Chief of Staff to Tom Tugendhat MP,  gave a candid insight into what it is really like ‘in the thick of it’, discussing the trials and tribulations faced by MPs staff and the vital skills they need to succeed.

Perspectives on Parliament events give an insight into Parliament’s people, processes, offices, history and culture. They will also give an insight into how Parliament scrutinises specific policy areas. These events are held at universities and higher education institutions across the UK.

PIL Survey

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The Parliament and Constitution centre (PCC) of the House of Commons Library is currently undertaking a project to review the Parliamentary Information Lists (PILs).

PILs are compiled by the House of Commons Library to provide reference information/data on a number of topics including bills, committees, debates, divisions, the House of Commons, Parliament and procedure. The aim of the project is to see how relevant the lists are and how user friendly they are in light of the different technologies available to view and receive information about the lists.

Whether you use the PILS to support a query from your MP or are new to them, they would like to hear from you and they  would be really grateful if you could take a few moments to complete this quick survey to get your views and feedback regarding the PILs.

Please use this link to start the survey

Written questions and Departmental responsiveness

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 The House of Commons Procedure Committee has published its latest report monitoring the timeliness of Departments in answering written questions from MPs.

Monitoring of performance

The Committee has found a general increase in the performance of departments across the board. Nine in ten standard questions for written answer are now answered within five sitting days, while over eight in ten priority questions are answered on the day the MP has specified.

The Committee acknowledges the general improvement in performance by Departments, but notes that some departments — the Home Office, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Energy and Climate Change — were performing well below expectations in the last Session.

The Committee is now able to monitor Departmental performance more regularly, and in the last session invited Home Office and DCMS Ministers to discuss the action taken by their Departments to reduce delays in answering questions tabled by MPs.