News

News

New HMRC Guides for MPs and Staff

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Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs have updated their very helpful booklets, explaining how they can help you to help your constituents. The two booklets are:

  • HMRC Casework guide for MPs and Staff
  • HMRC guide for MPs managing their own tax affairs

They are available in the following formats:

  • English
  • Welsh
  • Accessible Version – English only

If you would like a copy of the updated versions, please email us letting us know which version(s) you require.

*** Please note that we are only able to send these documents to current MPs and their staff with intranet email accounts.  It is not available to members of the public.

Wikipedia/Wikidata for new and returning MPs

Wikipedia Home Page
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As soon as the first election results were announced on 12 December, Wikipedians – the volunteers who write and edit Wikipedia – sprang into action, updating Wikipedia’s articles about the election itself, about every individual constituency, and about every single MP.

The volunteers also added data, including for example MPs’ websites, Twitter names and Facebook profiles, to Wikipedia’s younger sister project, Wikidata. That’s a database that provides online, queryable data (linked open data, in technical jargon) that is used to populate Wikipedia articles.

MPs staff are able to update Wikipedia and Wikidata, as long as they follow the guidelines for the sites. If you would like to do this then you may want to refer to our guides

Hive Support Agency: staff recruitment in Parliament

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We’ve been contacted by Hive. They say:

Hive Support

Hive Support

We provide an independent and professional service to MPs to assist with their recruitment and ongoing management of staff.

We have over 30 years’ experience of working in Parliamentary Offices and understand the unique relationship between an MP and their team. By outsourcing recruitment and HR to us we can relieve pressures from the office and ensure MPs and their staff have more time to focus on Parliamentary and constituency work.

Recruitment: If you are looking to work in Parliament, then get in touch with us via our website https://hivesupport.co.uk/recruitment/. We are currently recruiting for several MPs expecting to be returned following the election and are in contact with many more. We can currently only accept applications from those with previous experience of working for a Member or Peer.

HR: We offer support to Parliamentary teams and ensure that MPs are meeting the recommendations of the Inquiry into Bullying and Harassment of Parliamentary Staff; without adding additional burdens to already overstretched offices.

If you work in Parliament and need support or want to work in Parliament and would like our help to get you there, please get in touch today.

[email protected]

https://hivesupport.co.uk

https://linkedin.com/company/hivesupport

About us:

Eve Burt and Sam Mackewn have over 30 years combined experience working in Parliamentary offices. Eve also Chairs a voluntary organisation and has responsibility for employment issues, including grievance and disciplinary procedures. Sam managed an employment rights centre offering legal advice to those experiencing difficulties at work.

TheyWorkForYou Crowdfunder

TheyWorkForYou
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Many of us use TheyWorkForYou to find out what’s been going in Parliament – keeping track of what an MP has said is vital in the office.

However, just keeping the site going on a daily basis takes a substantial amount of staff time and expertise, not to mention the costs involved in hosting a heavily-visited website.

So they’ve launched a crowdfunding effort to keep the site going.

Donate here.

Women and Parliament Virtual Tour

Women and Parliament Virtual Tour
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Have you seen the Women and Parliament 360° virtual tour?
See where the 1866 first mass petition for female suffrage was handed in, find out about the campaign for equal voting rights, and more.
Take a virtual tour bit.ly/2Nu62aZ

The content of the Women and Parliament virtual tour draws on research and content from the 2018 exhibition ‘Voice and Vote’. The exhibition project was financed by the Speaker’s Art Fund and the House of Lords with support from the House of Commons.

House of Commons Library Help Hub Community

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Have you visited the House of Commons Library Help Hub Community yet?

The Help Hub Community is a forum where caseworkers can ask each other questions, share experiences and provide advice.  They also run regular ‘ask the expert sessions’ with Library specialists.

MPs’ Staff should have been sent an email inviting them to join the community.  If you haven’t received one, please contact [email protected] and they will sign you up and send you a link.

Survey of MPs Staff – please respond

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Following the Gemma White QC Report into bullying and harassment of MPs’ staff, the House of Commons service are thinking about what they can do to help to include MPs’ staff within the parliamentary community.  They would like to take the opportunity to ask you your views on how they can best do this.  The survey takes only a minute or two and can be accessed here:

MP staff survey

The survey will close on Friday 8 November 2019.

World Mental Health Day 2019: focus on suicide prevention

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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/

Thursday 10 October is World Mental Health Day.

Wellbeing practitioners will be running a stall in PCH to promote good mental health at work and encourage everyone to know what support and resources are available to them.

A team of Mental Health First Aiders will also be running stalls and activities in Parliamentary buildings across the Estate.

Please see the intranet for further information