Results from the WWG Annual Survey of Staff
The WWG has published the results of this year’s annual survey of staff undertaken on behalf of the WWG by Dr Ashley Weinberg from Salford University. You can find the results and the WWG response on the WWG Wellbeing Hub:https://hopuk.sharepoint.com/sites/hct-wellbeinghub
Cyber security guidance on ParliNet
The recent announcements about cyber campaigns against the Electoral Commission and MPs from Deputy PM Oliver Dowden have been widely reported, and should concern everyone in Parliament. There is an extensive guide to cyber security on ParliNet, and we suggest reviewing the guidance there and ensuring that your office and personal systems are properly secured.
New system to register Members’ financial interests
The new online system for registering MPs’ Interests went live on Tuesday 19 March 2024. In order for staff proxies to use the new service, the Member must first log in and set up the correct permissions for them. To find out more, please see here: https://parlinet.parliament.uk/information-resources/news-newsletters-notices/news/2023/october/new-registration-of-interests-system/ or drop in at one of the information…
Vote Office Training
Join the Vote Office to learn more about its role in Parliament and develop your understanding of parliamentary business papers, publications and government reports. There are three online sessions covering different aspect of the Vote Office’s work. Each session lasts for thirty minutes. Introduction to the Vote Office: Monday 25 March 2024 at 1-1.30pmVote Office…
Teams Discussion Forums
Did you know that the Members’ Services Team runs discussion forums on Teams for Caseworkers and those who have a management role in an MP’s office? The Members’ Office Management Forum has a weekly meeting at 11:00 every Wednesday which is full of useful information and gives the opportunity to raise queries with representatives from…
Data Protection for House of Commons Members and their Staff
This short online course is designed to give learners an overview of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). To find out more and enrol, please go here: https://parliament.learningpool.com/course/view.php?id=1344
IPSA – 2024-2025 Salary Ranges
IPSA has published the salary ranges for 2024-2025 and they can be found here: https://www.ipsaonline.org.uk/guidance/pay-and-benefits London area: https://www.ipsaonline.org.uk/guidance/pay-and-benefits#mps-staff-pay-ranges-2024-25-london-area Non-London area: https://www.ipsaonline.org.uk/guidance/pay-and-benefits#mps-staff-pay-ranges-2024-25-non-london-area
Local government finance for caseworkers – Caseworker Discussion Forum
Time: 10:30 – 11:30Date: Thursday 21 March 2024Location: Virtual via Microsoft Teams The March 2024 forum will be on the topic of Local government finance for caseworkers. We will be joined by Mark Sandford from the Library’s Parliament and Constitution Centre and Phil Brien from our Economic Policy and Statistics Section. To book, click here:…
UK Parliament Teacher Ambassador Programme 1-3 July 2024
The Education and Engagement Service (EES) will be hosting its next residential UK Parliament Teacher Ambassador Programme 1-3 July 2024. This programme offers a unique three-day course where teachers get to experience the workings of Parliament first-hand before returning to their classrooms to build their students’ understanding and increase their engagement with UK Parliament. The…
Welcome to Parliament (Members’ Staff Induction)
Welcome to Parliament. The new joiner induction sessions are now available to book via the ACT portal if you have a new joiner in your office, please share with them. This session will welcome you to being part of the Parliamentary community and cover essential information from key House services that will help you to…
The price of postage stamps will rise on 2 April 2024
The price of Royal Mail postage stamps will rise on 2 April 2024 as follows: You can see the full details of these and other services here: https://www.royalmail.com/sites/royalmail.com/files/2024-03/our-prices-april-2024-v1-ta.pdf
Constituency Casework Data and Dissolution
The ICO is hosting a webinar for Members’ staff on Constituency Casework Data and Dissolution on Thursday 7 March from 2pm. There will be an open Q&A session where you can ask any questions on this subject. To attend, please visit this page and then follow the link to register: https://parlinet.parliament.uk/information-resources/news-newsletters-notices/news/2024/february/preparing-casework-for-dissolution/
Taylor Bennett Foundation PR & Communications Training Programme
The Taylor Bennett Foundation is a charity that exists to encourage people from a black, Asian and minority ethnic background to pursue a career in communications. Their award-winning PR Training Programme is a paid, full-time, eight-week training programme in Public Relations (PR) and Communications designed to equip participants from a Black, Asian & minority ethnic…
CV Writing for Members’ Staff
House of Commons Training Session Course Overview Sessions available on: To book, please go here: https://parliament.learningpool.com/course/view.php?id=2109
MPs’ Staff Survey on Wellbeing
All MPs’ staff should have received an email inviting them to complete the Wellness Working Group annual survey on wellbeing. If you haven’t already completed this important survey, w4mp strongly encourages you to do so as soon as possible – the closing date is Friday 19 January 2024. If you are a member of staff…
Navigating the new constituencies
As we all know, the current set of parliamentary constituencies is being replaced for the next election and the borders of constituencies will change substantially. And because boundary reviews are carried out by separate organisations for each nation that no-one officially produces a single dataset of all the new constituencies covering the whole UK. However…
Boundary changes – how to find data about new constituencies – Caseworker Discussion Forum
Time: 10:30 – 11:30Date: Thursday 18 January 2024Location: Virtual via Microsoft Teams The January 2024 forum will be on the topic of Boundary changes: how to find data about new constituencies. We will be joined by staff from the Library’s Social and General Statistics Section. To sign up, please go here: https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/signup.php?s=16606
Artificial Intelligence: An explainer
The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology has produced a useful explainer on Artificial Intelligence. It describes key definitions, how AI can be used, how it works, concerns, and perceptions of AI. You can find it here: https://post.parliament.uk/research-briefings/post-pb-0057/
All-Staff Q&A Session December: Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Q&A
Please join the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Advocacy Team, who will raise awareness of Disability Services, to support your constituents. The Team will cover the Access to Work (ATW) grant which supports people with a health condition or a disability to get into and retain work. If you have a question you would…
Training: Dealing with Cases of Domestic Abuse
Time: 10:00 – 16:00Date: 16 January 2024Location: Online via Teams For full details and booking, please visit https://parliament.learningpool.com/course/view.php?id=2068
Training: Managing Your Social Media Profile
This is a two-day, in-person course. This course is about how to get the best out of social media and will have a particular focus on using video as a powerful way of engage and also explore how to manage negative comments and link you to some Parliamentary resources that can support you. This is a practical…
Third Annual WWG Survey of Staff Working for MPs
The Wellness Working Group is excited to once again share with you the now Annual WWG Survey of Staff working for Members of Parliament. You may remember, the Wellness Working Group undertakes this an anonymous survey of MPs staff to better understand the pressures and effects that our jobs have on our wellbeing. We are…
Latest Recommended Posting Dates for Christmas Delivery in the UK in 2023
Monday 18 December:2nd Class2nd Class Signed For Wednesday 20 December:1st Class1st Class Signed For Friday 22 December:Special Delivery Guaranteed® You can find more detailed information on the Royal Mail website here: https://www.royalmail.com/christmas/last-posting-dates
Behaviour Code for MPs’ Staff
There are still some spaces available for next weeks’ ‘Behaviour Code – Why It Matters For All MPs’ Staff’ session at 3pm on 7 December. A further session has also just been arranged for 10am on 19 December. It is essential that all new MPs’ staff attend so if you haven’t already please sign up…
Changes to Home Office Contact Details
Please note that the email addresses used to contact the Home Office for immigration matters have been changed. Please check the Hotlines List for the new addresses. There is a new document giving an overview of the MP Account Management Services. Please do take a few minutes to read it, as it could save you…
Are you OK?
Are you OK? How are you coping? Do you need to talk to someone? An MP’s office can be a busy and stressful environment at the best of times, and over the past few weeks, staff have been under a lot of extra pressure. The work we do can put a strain on our mental…
Autumn Statement 2023
Do you want to know all about the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement 2023? The House of Commons Library has lots of information which you can find here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/autumn-statement-2023/ Including:
Parliament Matters – a podcast from the Hansard Society
Mark D’Arcy and Ruth Fox present a weekly podcast about how Parliament works, and talk about current issues and research, and historical events. Find the podcast here: https://podfollow.com/parliamentmatters/view
Constituency Data Dashboards
The House of Commons Library’s interactive dashboard can be used to explore data for parliamentary constituencies, covering topics such as unemployment, house prices and election results. You can see some headline statistics here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/constituency-dashboard/ There are more dashboards on other topics which you can look through on this page:https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/data-tools-and-resources/local-data/
Changes to Home Office contact details
Please note that the contact details for the Home Office in relation to immigration matters have now changed. Please see the new hotlines list for details.
MST East Midlands Roadshows – Nottingham (29 November) and Peterborough (30 November)
The Members’ Services Team (MST) are hosting a twin-centre East Midlands Roadshow this November. The events will take place in Nottingham on Wednesday 29 November, 10am – 4pm (Belgrave Rooms, NG1 5LB) and Peterborough on Thursday 30 November, 10am – 4pm (Weston Homes Stadium, PE2 8AL). The agenda will focus on preparing for the next…
It’s Parliament Week
It’s Parliament Week – see https://www.ukparliamentweek.org/en/ – and lots of activities will be taking place across the country. Parliament Week (UKPW) is an annual event, spreading the word about what Parliament is, what it does and how you can get involved and featured over 10,000 activities last year. You may have heard from people running…
Caseworker Discussion Q&A – Dealing with domestic abuse cases
Time: 10:30 – 11:30Date: Thursday 16 November 2023Location: Online via MS Teams With Sally Lipscombe from the Library’s Home Affairs Section and Hannah Cromarty from the Social Policy Section. To book and view other Caseworker Discussion Q&A sessions, please visit ACT: https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=5177
Dissolution Guidance Published
Dissolution is the official term for the end of a Parliament before a general election. When Parliament is dissolved every seat in the House of Commons becomes vacant. MPs immediately revert to being members of the general public and those who wish to become MPs again must stand for election as candidates. The House has now published its…
Understanding men and gender equity – A ParliGender event with Movember
Time: 13:30 to 14:30Date: Thursday 16 November 2023Location: Online – via Teams In this event, Sarah Sternberg, Global Masculinities Lead at Movember Foundation, will talk about: Sarah Sternberg holds an MSc in Sociology and Gender Studies from LSE and has been working in gender equity in international development and health for the last 10 years.…
Women in Westminster – Nominations are now open
Nominations are now open for Women in Westminster 2024! There are so many talented women in Westminster who often go unrecognised. We are therefore calling on you to nominate any woman currently working in Westminster or across the supporting sectors that you believe has made an impact on politics or public life in the past…
Disability History Month
Disability History Month takes place from 16 November to 16 December 2023. You can read more about it here: https://ukdhm.org/ The Parliamentary Education Unit has several resources for teachers: Life Peers’ Stories: A Conversation with Baroness Grey-Thompson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIvH2SsCboU Disability History Month illustrated book – a free eBook: https://learning.parliament.uk/en/resources/disability-illustrated-book/ Disability History Booklet: https://assets-learning.parliament.uk/uploads/2020/11/Disability-History-Month-booklet.pdf Learning about disability…
What is a just transition for environmental targets?
A POSTNote from the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology. https://post.parliament.uk/research-briefings/post-pn-0706/ This POSTnote considers transitions to meet environmental targets and how their costs and benefits for different members of society can be distributed fairly.
w4mp and ParliNet
With the launch of ParliNet, the new parliamentary intranet, we will be updating links from w4mp to intranet pages to reflect the improved structure of the new site. ParliNet contains everything you need to stay connected to the parliamentary community. Use it to find information like catering menus, events, contact numbers, and the latest news,…
Moneyhelper
Exclusive webinar for MPs’ staff During Talk Money Week, MoneyHelper (brought to you by the Money and Pensions Service) is hosting an exclusive webinar to support MP’s staff to have better conversations with constituents about money. Our financial wellbeing experts will help you: Whether you’re a seasoned expert or new to an MP’s office, the…
ParliNet launches Monday October 16
ParliNet, Parliament’s new intranet, will launch tomorrow, Monday 16 October. ParliNet will be accessible from anywhere, on any device, using a parliamentary login, and will replace the current intranet as a place to go for timely, trusted and relevant information. On Monday, staff be sent more information to your parliamentary emails about how to get…
Israel terror attacks: compensation for victims
How to apply for compensation if you were a victim of the terrorist attacks in Israel starting on 7 October 2023. The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs has designated the attacks in Israel starting from, but not limited to, 7 October 2023 as acts of terrorism. Claimants can apply directly and…
ParliAble panel discussion for World Mental Health Day
1pm today. Today (10th October) is World Mental Health Day ParliAble, one of the fantastic Workplace Equality Networks in Parliament is hosting a panel discussion event to mark this important campaign. Details below! Join us online for an exciting panel for World Mental Health Day on Tuesday 10th October at 1pm. The panel is chaired…
British Liver Trust
A Wellness Working Group event Time: 11:00 – 12:00Date: Monday 16 October 2023Location: Online Please join us to hear the British Liver Trust talk about the work they do, the huge rise in liver disease and liver cancer and the crisis in access to services. We will also learn about the risk factors of liver…
PolicyMogul Conference Connector
If you’re going to the party conferences this year, use PolicyMogul’s free tool to meet organisations and policymakers who share your interests. Simply fill in a short form with some information about you and the kind of people you’re interested in meeting, and PolicyMogul will connect you with relevant people. https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/eAnhCWL3Di5l7N0lI6jTo1?domain=about.policymogul.com/
Imprints on election and campaign material
A Research Briefing from the House of Commons Library. Imprints are details that must appear on political or election-related material to show who is has produced it. This briefing explains the requirements for imprints. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn02174/
NEW REPORT: MPs’ staff, the Unsung Heroes: An Examination of Who They Are and What They Do
A new Constitution Unit report by Dr Rebecca McKee examines the key role played by MPs’ staff in our political system, shedding new light on who they are, and what they do. You can read the report here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/sites/constitution_unit/files/206_-unsung_heroes_-_full_report.pdf
The price of postage stamps will rise on 2 October 2023
The prices of Royal Mail postage stamps will rise on 2 October 2023 You can find full details of all price rises here: https://www.royalmail.com/sites/royalmail.com/files/2023-09/our-prices-october-2023-ta.pdf
Subject Access Requests – guidance for MPs’ offices
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/ The Information Compliance Team has updated its guidance on Subject Access Requests for MPs’ offices and you can find it here You could also have a…
Design a pie for Parliament!
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/ It’s 250 years since the first ‘official’ catering venue opened in the House of Commons and to celebrate this and the work of the catering teams…