News

News

MPs’ Staff Survey of Well-being 2024-2025

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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 that the Wellness Working Group undertakes this important anonymous survey of MPs staff to better understand the pressures and effects that our jobs have on our wellbeing. We are delighted that Dr Weinberg from Salford University has agreed to run the survey again for us this year.

The survey is completely anonymous and a chance to be able to help us enact change and to help us all obtain better work places and practices. It should only take about 15 minutes to complete.

Please address any queries you may have to the lead researcher Dr Ashley Weinberg, who is an Occupational Psychologist at the University of Salford: [email protected]

Training:  Staying safe and secure across Meta technologies

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Meta are hosting a virtual training for MPs and their staffers to showcase the tools they can use to stay safe and secure across Meta technologies next week Friday 6th Dec at 10h00.  As part of this training, they will also cover Meta Support Pros, a dedicated support service to address operational and technical issues as well as address product questions.  

  • Time: 10:00 – 11:00
  • Date:  Friday 6 December 2024
  • Format: Virtual

To book please RSVP to this event link

Behaviour Code Training for MPs’ Staff

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This training is essential for all MPs staff, and it is booked up many weeks in advance.

Please do book on to the first available course here: Course: Behaviour Code – Why it matters for all new Members’ Staff.

The Behaviour Code outlines clear guidelines on how you should be treated, and how you should treat others.

These guidelines apply to everyone who visits and works in Parliament.  

You should:

  • Respect and value everyone – bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct are not tolerated
  • Recognise your power, influence or authority and don’t abuse them
  • Think about how your behaviour affects others and strive to understand their perspective
  • Act professionally towards others
  • Ensure Parliament meets the highest ethical standards of integrity, courtesy and mutual respect
  • Speak up about any unacceptable behaviour you see

Unacceptable behaviour will be dealt with seriously, independently and with effective sanctions.

Refugee Resettlement to the UK: How does it work?

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A training session provided by the House of Commons, aimed at Member’s staff caseworkers.

Time: 15:00 – 16:30
Date: Tuesday 10 December 2024
Location: Online
Booking essential – https://parliament.learningpool.com/course/view.php?id=1918

Casework and correspondence to MPs from resettled refugees in constituencies across the UK has grown in recent years as the number of resettled refugees arriving in the UK has increased, as has the number of constituencies hosting them. This increase was primarily a result of the launch of the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) that ran from 2014-2021 and resettled over 20,000 refugees across the UK. The first large scale resettlement programme to the UK in decades.

The VPRS’ successor: the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) continues to resettle refugees across the UK, and Pathway 2 of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) has also been established.

An understanding of what refugee resettlement is, how it works and the rights refugees arriving will enjoy will be of crucial importance to MP’s offices when responding to correspondence. This training is intended to support caseworkers and parliamentary researchers with significant experience already, as well as those who are new to this policy area.

The training will cover:

  • Introduction to refugee resettlement and the global context
  • Step by step run through of resettlement to the UK
  • UNHCR procedures abroad
  • Resettlement Submission Categories
  • The UK’s resettlement programmes: The UK Resettlement Scheme and the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme
  • Key differences between resettlement and other pathways for refugees like family reunion.

Men’s Health Awareness stall

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10:30 – 15:30 on Tuesday 26 November 2024

To mark Men’s Health Awareness Month, the Parliamentary Health and Wellbeing Service (PHWS) and Parligender have partnered together with Andy’s Man Club and Prostate Cancer UK.

Andy’s Man Club are a charity who raise awareness for men’s mental health by facilitating groups all across the UK and Prostate Cancer UK are one of the UK’s most well-known charities who raise awareness for Prostate Cancer. 

Visit the stall in Portcullis House between 10:30am – 3:30pm to meet representatives of Andy’s Man Club and Prostate Cancer UK along with PHWS staff. 

There will also be a Men’s Health Awareness workshop at 1pm. 

For further information please visit this page on Parlinet: https://parlinet.parliament.uk/events/2024/november/mens-health-awareness-stall/

The Staff Room

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Next Wednesday (27 Nov) The House magazine will publish the first edition of a new bi-weekly newsletter, The Staff Room, written by and for MPs’ staff. It will meet the increasing professionalisation needs of its audience; you’ll learn how to support MPs with parliamentary duties, get training and career development tips, manage offices, use parliamentary facilities and much more. 

However, it won’t just be work, work, work: those who sign up will also get invitations to exclusive events in Westminster and guidance on the best places to eat, drink and network around SW1. Sign up here.

Webinar: Introduction to PolicyMogul for Parliamentary Users

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Time: 12:00
Date: Wednesday 27 November 2024

This online webinar is your chance to learn about the value that PolicyMogul provides for MPs, peers and parliamentary staff.

As well as an overview of the platform’s features, we will highlight some best practices related to getting the most out of the platform. Session includes Q&A.

PolicyMogul is the essential online tool used by UK parliamentarians and their teams to stay up to date with the latest political updates and intelligence related to their work and responsibilities.

For full details and to register, please visit https://about.policymogul.com/parliament/

IPSA Consultation – please respond

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IPSA has launched a new consultation: ‘Supporting trust in democracy in the new Parliament’.

IPSA is consulting on proposed changes to how it regulates and publish MPs’ funding, including changes to the Scheme of MPs’ Staffing and Business Costs.

It’s really important that as many MPs and staff as possible respond to the consultation, and you can access the document and the link to the online response tool here: https://www.theipsa.org.uk/publications/consultations

The consultation closes on 13 December 2024.