Please see the details here:
The State Apartments of Speaker’s House tour
StandardYou can now book a one-hour, fully-accessible tour of the State Apartments of the Speaker’s House, which includes the Grand Staircase, the Crimson Drawing Room, the State Dining Room, and the State Bedroom. The tour starts and finishes in Westminster Hall which you are welcome to explore afterwards.
See here for full details and booking: https://ukparliament.seetickets.com/timeslot/the-state-apartments-of-speaker-s-house-tour
Mindfulness Course for Members
StandardNew six-week online mindfulness course for Members starts next Wednesday 23 February, 8.30-9.30am.
Sessions will take place every Wednesday 8.30-9.30am for six weeks (from Wednesday 23 February to Wednesday 30 March).
The course will be delivered by Awaris, leading mindfulness training provider and sessions will take place online via Zoom.
To book your place email Lydia Smith on PHWS@parliament.uk
Best Practice Guide to Grievances
StandardPlease 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/
The House of Commons Members’ HR Service has produced a Best Practice Guide to Grievances.
This best practice guide aims to enable Members and their HR proxies to respond to and investigate grievances fairly, consistently and effectively.
You can find the guide here
This is one of a series of guides, and you can find the other guides here
House of Commons Training in the next fortnight
StandardThis is the fortnight training information from the Commons Learning and Development Team for you to be able to find the available courses for the following two weeks. We are including some law sessions recently arranged for March.
Please click the links to book if you are available to join.
W/C 21 February
- Vicarious Trauma (both two days to be attend): Vicarious Trauma
- Speech Writing: Speech Writing
- Managing Your Social Media Profile (both two days to be attend): Managing Your Social Media Profile
W/C 28 February
- Supporting Distressed Caller: we are rearranging the sessions’ dates
Newly arranged short webinar Law sessions in March
- Immigration and Asylum Law – Short webinar: Immigration and Asylum Law – Short webinar
Royal Mail Transition to Barcoded Stamps
StandardThe Royal Mail has brought in a new style of postage stamp which feature a barcode. You can read about it here: https://www.royalmail.com/sending/barcoded-stamps
Stamps which do not feature a barcode ceased to be valid on 31 July 2023 and should not be used. If they are used, the recipient will be charged a surcharge.
You can ‘swap out’ your old stamps for new ones and information on how to do this is on the above website. This applies to all ‘definitive stamps’ – the ones which feature only the Queen’s head in profile. This includes standard First and Second Class stamps, Large Letter stamps, and all specific value Definitive stamps (e.g. 1p, 2p, etc). Special Stamps with pictures on and Christmas Stamps without a barcode will continue to be valid and don’t need to be swapped out.
The pre-paid envelopes used by MPs’ offices will not be affected and can continue to be used and are not part of the swap out scheme.
Update 9 July 2024: the pre-paid envelopes bearing the head of Queen Elizabeth II are still valid, and there are currently no plans to replace them with the head of His Majesty King Charles III.
Financial Year-End Support from IPSA
StandardIt’s that time of year when MPs’ proxies start to gather together all of the information required to finalise their accounts. There’s forms to fill in, accruals and prepayments to check and whilst it’s usually plain sailing, there’s sometimes a few furrowed brows.
Never fear, though – IPSA is on hand to help.
From 14 February 2022, IPSA will be hosting weekly webinars, drop-in sessions every Tuesday to answer queries and you can also book a call with your IPSA Account Manager for individual support. You can also call IPSA directly on 020 7811 6400 without booking, but your call will be answered by a member of the team, not necessarily your Account Manager or Payroll Officer, who will try to resolve your issue or will forward to a
member of the team.
Even if you think you know what you’re doing, it’s still worth listening to the webinars in case there’s anything you’ve missed.
You can find out more information about these events here: https://www.ipsaonline.org.uk/notices/year-end-support
Public inquiries and the Coronavirus pandemic – Commons Library talk
StandardPlease 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 31 Mar 2022, 14:00 – 15:00
Online (MS Teams)
Two public inquiries have been announced, one by the UK Government and the other by the Scottish Government, into the Covid-19 pandemic response. This talk will explain how those inquiries will go about their work, what powers they will have, and what they will look at.
Event format
Online presentation by the specialist followed by time for questions.
For further information and booking, please see here.
Bank branch closures: the numbers and issues – Commons Library talk
StandardPlease 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 24 Mar 2022, 14:00 – 15:00
Online (MS Teams)
Bank branch numbers have been falling for years, and the pandemic has only sped this up. This talk will look at those numbers, as well as the effects on people, businesses and communities. What can be done about this and what plans are there to maintain access to cash?
Event format
Online presentation by the specialists followed by time for questions.
For further information and booking, please see here.
Understanding and using statistics: the basics for dealing with numerical information – Commons Library talk
StandardPlease 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/
Wednesday 16 Mar 2022, 14:00 – 15:30
Online (MS Teams)
This talk is designed to help you understand, accurately interpret and clearly present statistical information. It includes some practical tips on using and writing about statistics and introduces some important statistical concepts.
Event format
Online presentation by the specialists followed by time for questions.
For further information and booking, please see here.