‘A House Rebuilt? Progress, governance and an agenda towards 2020’

In this “end of term” lecture organised by the Hansard Society the Speaker will set out the progress made in strengthening Parliament as a proper check and balance on the executive, reconnecting Parliament with the public and establishing the House of Commons, and its governance, as a modern and model public sector institution. He will then set out his ambitions for reform in the next Parliament after the general election. The event will be followed by Q&As.

6pm, Monday 2nd March, Attlee Suite, Portcullis House

Register here

All staff will no doubt be aware that there’s a General Election coming, and the outcome seems to be especially unpredictable.  In a new report form  for the Electoral Reform Society, Professor John Curtice of the University of Strathclyde uses polling data to demonstrate how relatively small shifts in support among the parties can have dramatic effects on the shape of the next Parliament, and therefore the next government.

According to a post on the ERS blog:

some of the outcomes predicted in this report seem so random as to suggest voters would be as well buying a lottery ticket as being handed a ballot paper. As Professor Curtice notes, this is an election where it looks like there will be no relationship between votes cast and seats won.

Read the report (PDF)

Parliament is a serious place, and the Palace of Westminster and constituency offices are filled with hard-working, dedicated professionals engaged in the important business of running the country.

But even the most committed need time for rest and recuperation, space to kick back and unwind, and opportunities to take a sideways look at their workplace, employers and even their political masters. Our alt.guides offer a sidelong view of life working for an MP, and include a monthly cartoon from Hoby.

In this video, w4mp founder Dick Robinson and others talk about the history and current operation of the site.

(Or go to A Brief History of w4mp from Bill Thompson on Vimeo.)

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Set up by the Speaker, the Commission is investigating the opportunities digital technology can bring for parliamentary democracy in the UK. Its report has just been issued, with an introduction by the Speaker.

You can read the report here

A new series of monthly seminars, talks and presentations exploring the wealth of possibilities offered by digital technology. Every month successful professionals from the digital industry will be coming to Parliament to share and discuss their experiences with us. These events are open to Members of both Houses, staff of Members, and all parliamentary staff.

The first seminar takes place on Thursday 22 January, Attlee Suite, 10am-12noon

How to ensure success with agile

The presentation will cover a brief overview of agile and scrum for those who are not completely familiar with it. You’ll learn about a number of techniques that will allow you to go beyond the basic mechanics of iterative development that can help to ensure the success of an agile project. We’ll discuss why some agile projects fail and how to avoid the common traps of just “talking the talk” to cover up the fact that your team is really not very agile at all. We’ll look at different types of software projects to understand when to apply levels of governance (and how much) to your agile project. You’ll also learn what agile software development has in common with the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Two enthusiastic agile ambassadors, James Cannings and Karoliina Luoto, will deliver a presentation looking at running successful web projects using Agile methodologies; in particular, how this works in the public sector and traditional Prince 2 environment.

Please email the webandintranetservice@parliament.ukto reserve a space.

The Speakers

James Cannings started MMT Digital in his bedroom in 1999 after he graduated from University in the UK with a 1st in Computer Science and Cybernetics. He spent many years learning his trade as a developer, working with almost every technology that came along whilst constantly refining the companies approach to developing large scale digital projects for clients. In recent years James has hung up his development hat and has focused on solutions architecture and consultancy. He has spent the last two years fully immersed in the world of agile based development and has rolled out the successful processes across the business for a wide range of clients and projects. Almost every project that James is involved in requires discussion around the “tablet / mobile strategy”.

Karoliina Luoto is a consultant focusing on agile purchasing, great web concepts and agile customer/client co-work management. In Karoliina’s world, project methodology is not a black and white issue, but a series of questions which require creative and preferably simple solutions. Projects are not about waterfall or agile, they are about vision, inspection and adaptation. Before consulting, Karoliina has been in charge of web service and collaboration development in different organisations. She also has background in marketing, communications and publishing.

 

Details of the  House of Commons onsite daycare nursery can be found on ParliNet.

It’s that time again – you’ve got until midnight on January 14 to get your nominations in for the researcher of the year awards.  The form is here, and there’s more information on the ROTY website, http://www.rotyawards.co.uk

All staff working in a research or casework capacity for an MP or a Peer, from parliamentary or constituency offices, can be nominated to win an award, which  are intended to promote the extremely valuable role played by all individuals working for parliamentarians.

Achieving parity of esteem between mental and physical health in care standards and public attitudes has been attempted for decades. A new publication from POST outlines the history of these efforts, the various ways in which parity is defined and measured, the challenges of achieving this ideal and the strategies that may be employed to that end and is worth reading.

Parity of Esteem for Mental Health – POST Note