Financial Year End – 2023-2024

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It’s that time of year, when IPSA Proxies lock themselves in their offices, set their phones to ‘do not disturb’ and bury their heads in spreadsheets. Yes, it’s year end! But don’t worry, IPSA has made things much simpler and, assuming you’ve been reasonably well-organised, sorting out your year-end documentation shouldn’t be too stressful.

Don’t put it off until the last minute, do it now, then if you have any queries, you have time to sort them out.

Key dates:

  • You must submit your year-end form by 23:59 on Friday 19 April 2024.
  • You must have all your payment card lines reconciled by 23:59 on 26 April 2024.
  • You must submit all the evidence for the reimbursement claims listed on your year-end form by 23:59 on Friday 10 May 2024.

You no longer need to submit a year-end for payroll.

It’s a good idea to log into the website regularly to check that there are no tasks outstanding in your task manager.

You can find all of IPSA’s year-end guidance here: https://www.ipsaonline.org.uk/year-end-2023-24 and the staff are really helpful and patient, so give them a call if you’re stuck or unsure about anything.

Already submitted everything? Great! Go and get a brew, then sit down and prepare your paperwork for 2024-2025. Why not make a list of your regular outgoings and work out a forecast, which you can update as you go along throughout the year? You could set up a simple spreadsheet to do this, and then you will always know the current state of your budget and can adjust your spending accordingly.

New system to register Members’ financial interests

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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 stalls or virtual sessions: https://parlinet.parliament.uk/information-resources/news-newsletters-notices/news/2023/november/register-of-interests-stalls-in-portcullis-house/

You can find the FAQs here: https://parlinet.parliament.uk/information-resources/programmes/transforming-digital-programme/new-register-of-members-interests-system—frequently-asked-questions/

Vote Office Training

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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 1-1.30pm
Vote Office Papers: an Introduction: Tuesday 26 March 2024 at 1-1.30pm
Accessing Publications: Select Committee reports and Government publications: Wednesday 27 March 2024 at 1-1.30pm

Please follow the link for booking details.

https://parlinet.parliament.uk/information-resources/news-newsletters-notices/news/2024/march/vote-office-online-training/

Teams Discussion Forums

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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 the Parliamentary Digital Service, the Parliamentary Security Department, the Human Resources team, the House of Commons Library, the Vote Office and more. There are weekly guest speakers, including regular visits from IPSA. It also has a text chat facility for when you have quick questions to ask.

The Caseworker Discussion Forum hosts a monthly All-Staff Q&A which you can sign up for on ACT, and the text chat is always active.

If you would like to be added to either (or both) of these forums, please email MST@parliament.uk from your parliamentary network account, stating which MP you work for and your role in the office.

Data Protection for House of Commons Members and their Staff

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This short online course is designed to give learners an overview of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 

  • What General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is and why you need to know about it
  • What the principles of GDPR are
  • Differences between GDPR and the Data Protection Act (DPA)
  • Penalties and exceptions to the GDPR

To find out more and enrol, please go here: https://parliament.learningpool.com/course/view.php?id=1344

Local government finance for caseworkers – Caseworker Discussion Forum

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Time: 10:30 – 11:30
Date: Thursday 21 March 2024
Location: 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: https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/signup.php?s=16640

UK Parliament Teacher Ambassador Programme 1-3 July 2024

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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 EES will cover the cost of transport, accommodation, and most meals for teachers taking part and we welcome applications from teachers, school/college leaders and teacher training providers working with young people aged 5-18.

Throughout the three days, the teachers will get to experience:

• Q&A sessions with the Speaker, Lord Speaker, and Members of both Houses
• Talks from subject specialists
• Workshops devoted to key aspects of the work of UK Parliament
• Opportunities to explore new and exciting teaching ideas
• Tours of the Palace of Westminster and the Parliamentary Education Centre

In 2023, 100% of the teachers who attended rated the course as excellent, and 100% of the teachers left saying they felt confident teaching about UK Parliament as a result of the programme. One attendee shared: “It has been the most amazing course I’ve been on. I’ve found it has really fired my passion again. It has given me real and practical ideas I can take back to school.”

All interested educators, schools, colleges and teachers of all phases and school/college leaders are encouraged to apply.

Application forms are available online at UK Parliament Teacher Ambassador Programme and the closing date is Sunday 24 March 2024.

Please note that the course is often over-subscribed so teachers will be accepted based on their answers to the application questions.

If you or teachers in your constituency would like more information, please contact us at teachertraining@parliament.uk

New home for the hotlines list

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We wanted to let you know about the new home for the w4mp hotlines list!

We have worked closely with MST to adapt the hotlines list, following feedback on its storage on SharePoint. This version of the w4mp hotlines list returns to you being able to copy and paste information, as well as being able to find information using CTRL+F, so we hope you find it useful! However, please give us any feedback on how you find it, as we are always looking for ways to improve it!

If you didn’t know, the w4mp hotlines list is a great resource for caseworkers who are looking for contact details for different organisations, government departments, companies etc. when supporting their constituents. It not only has helplines that their constituents can use, but also emails and phone numbers that give MPs’ staff a more direct contact link to these organisations, which can make supporting constituents queries a lot easier. It is regularly updated and this new w4mp hotlines list is essentially a live document, so you know that it will always have the latest known contact details. You can see a list of the latest updates here: https://w4mp.org/hotline-numbers-for-mps-meps-msps-ams-and-their-staff/

If you have any questions or feedback, let us know. Otherwise, we hope you like the new home of the w4mp hotlines list!

Please note that the list is available only to people who have parliamentary network accounts. We are not able to share the list with people who are not on the network.