Author: W4MP Editor

MONDAY NIGHT MEN’S 8-a-SIDE FOOTBALL MATCH

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Westminster Wanderers FC is an adult men’s FA standard football club, competing in the Southern Sunday Football League and also organising social football.

We are seeking new players to play our weekly social football match, which has been going for at least 10 years. We play an 8-a-side game at Pimlico Academy every week on a decent sized pitch, getting a good group together each Monday night to enjoy a friendly but competitive match which kicks off at 8.15pm. 

We are looking for extra players to join the squad. The expectation is that you will play one or two weeks out of the month, and we operate on the basis that the first 16 who sign up each week get to play. The match lasts for one hour and the fee is £12 to cover our costs. Teams are chosen by the organising group every week, and the invitation to play goes out on Thursday morning for the following Monday. 

This is a good game for players who don’t get to play every weekend, for veterans and all those who just want a decent hour of football. We have long-standing Westminster Wanderers playing, as well as students and people who have found out about the game by word-of-mouth. Players include civil servants, researchers, journalists, and people working in public affairs. The matches tend to be quite close and played in a good spirit. The players range from 16 years to over 50 years old and there is an end of year awards.

Pimlico Academy is on Lupus Street, SW1, the nearest tube station is Pimlico, and there is on-street parking and space for bikes.

Please let us know if you want to become part of the squad. Either email us at westminsterwanderers@gmail.com, or link to us at X or LinkedIn.

Alex

WWFC Club Chairman

Meet the Director Drop-in: Parliamentary Maintenance

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Time: 11:30 – 14:00
Date: Tuesday 13 May
Location: Portcullis House Hub

Directors from key House Administration teams that provide services to Members will be available to answer your questions, listen to your feedback, or if you just want to learn more about how their teams can support you in carrying out your parliamentary duties.

Meet:

  • Mark Ryce, Director of Parliamentary Maintenance
  • Andy Doherty and Adnan Al-Ammaren, Deputy Directors of Parliamentary Maintenance
  • Whitley Lane will be there alongside additional members of staff to talk/answer questions about Planon.

Avoid health misinformation: Improving constituents’ health literacy

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Good Information Toolkit Talk from the House of Commons Library

How does health literacy impact constituents and the NHS? Join us for an essential session focused on improving health literacy, where we will ask:

What is health literacy?

  • Understand the fundamentals and why it’s important for effective communication in our communities.
    Why does it matter to the NHS and your constituents?
  • Discover how improved health literacy can lead to better patient outcomes, reduce health inequalities, and help you support your constituents.
  • How can we empower constituents to understand information about their health
  • Explore how we can improve understanding in written and verbal information. We’ll also step into the shoes of patients who don’t understand what they’re being told about their health, and think about how we can communicate with empathy.

If you’re working in a constituency, this session can help you engage with communities about their health and support informed decision-making.

Time: 14:00
Date: 20 May 2025
Location: Online
Further information and registration: https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=7476

Casework Discussion Forum: Local transport Q&A

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Time: 14:30 – 15:30
Date: 8 May 2025
Location: Online via MS Teams

The Casework Discussion Forum takes place each month via MS Teams.

The topic for May’s forum meeting will be a Local transport Q&A (UK wide). We’ll be joined by Roger Tyers and Mike Benson from the Library’s Business and Transport team, and Iona Stewart from the Library’s Social and General Statistics team.

Book your place on Act.

The forum is complemented by a dedicated Teams chat which enables you to share ideas and best practice, with support being on hand from the Library should specialist knowledge be required.

You do not have to be a caseworker to attend these sessions – they are open to any Members’ staff who handle casework.

New! Information Management Hub

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A new Information Management hub has been launched on ParliNet, bringing together information compliance, management and security guidance into one place. 

Visit the IM hub to find guidance on what you need to do at every stage of managing your information, from when you first create and store information, to when we no longer need to keep information.

Benefits Newscast – May 2025

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In the May Benefits Newscast from The Benefits Training Company, David, Will and Charlotte discuss:

  • Fair repayment rate;
  • PIP beyond State Pension age;
  • What Advanced Customer Support does;
  • Severe Disability Premiums;
  • ADHD & higher rate mobility component of DLA;
  • All migration letters to be sent by September 2025 in Great Britain.

You can listen to the Newscast and a transcript here: https://www.benefitstraining.co.uk/benefits-newscast/

An introduction to the UK Pensions system

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A free seminar from the Pensions Policy Institute, kindly sponsored by Phoenix Group.

Time: 12:00 – 13:00
Date: Tuesday 13 May 2025
Location: Central Hall Westminster, Dinsdale Young Room, Storey’s Gate, London, SW1H 9NH

Pensions are important, but can be very confusing.

We can help with this

The Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) would like to invite you to join us for an introduction to the UK Pensions System. This seminar, which is free to attend and kindly sponsored by Phoenix Group, is open exclusively to all staff working within Parliament who have an interest in pension policy.

There is no getting away from it, the current UK Pensions system can be confusing. This seminar, delivered by the PPI’s Senior Leadership Team, will provide a high-level overview of the current system, and the issues faced by industry, policymakers, and those saving for and in receipt of income in retirement.

Specific topics which will be covered include:

  • The State Pension – historical background and where we are today
  • Automatic enrolment – historical background and where we are today
  • Adequacy
  • Retirement income – comparisons with the rest of the world
  • Private pensions – what is available, where we are today with CDC, industry challenges and the changing landscape
  • The Gender Pensions Gap – differences and explanations
  • Investment – Mansion House, Illiquids, ESG
  • New developments – Dashboards, Small Pots, and Lost Pensions

Why choose this seminar? Our Independence sets us apart: The PPI focuses on the facts. The Knowledge Sharing Seminars will be delivered from the PPI’s independent perspective and will provide you with the facts on the UK Pensions System.

We hope you can join us, and we look forward to unravelling the world of pensions for you!

Please feel free to forward this invite to colleagues within Parliament who may be interested in attending this free seminar.

Click here to book your place

The Pensions Policy Institute: is an educational research institute. Our aim is to improve information and understanding about pensions policy and retirement income provision through research and analysis, discussion, and publication.

Phoenix Group: You may be aware of Phoenix’s customer brand, Standard Life, who together with their other brands make Phoenix one of the UK’s largest long-term savings and retirement business.

Becoming British: how migrants qualify for permanent residence and citizenship

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House of Commons Library Talk

Session outline

People who move to the UK can often make it their permanent home after a while by applying for indefinite leave to remain and then British citizenship. We’ll discuss how this works, how long it normally takes and recent announcements in this area from both the Labour government and Conservative opposition.

Time: 10:30 – 11:30
Date: 8 May 2025
Location: Online
Registration: https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?f=3477