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 helphub@parliament.uk and they will sign you up and send you a link.
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:
The survey will close on Friday 8 November 2019.
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
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/
Flu vaccination clinics have been arranged for 15, 16 and 17 October in the Palace of Westminster. These are available to Staff of the House of Commons, PDS, Members of the House of Commons and their staff.
Please see the intranet for further information:
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/
Extinction Rebellion are planning two weeks of direct action, commencing on Sunday 6 October. The protests will take the form of peaceful ‘camps’ around Westminster, and high levels of disruption are expected.
See the post on the Parliamentary Intranet for more details.
As you may have heard on the news, the Supreme Court has ruled that the proroguing of Parliament was unlawful and therefore did not actually happen, and the Commons will sit tomorrow.
Here at w4mp we’d like to send good wishes to everyone whose plans have been changed at short notice and wish them all the best as they deal with the inevitable pressures of the the next few weeks.
News on the Parliament website that the House of Commons has updated its corporate visual identity to ensure it is accessible, in particular on digital platforms and mobile devices.
The updates include an updated rendering of the Crowned Portcullis symbol that works effectively at all sizes in digital environments, and follows the changes developed for the award-winning UK Parliament visual identity launched in 2018.
Alongside the updated version of the House of Commons wordmark, the identity includes an extensive colour palette, icons, illustrations and templates.
Two highly accessible typefaces, National and Register, have also been selected for their excellent legibility in digital and print environments. The decision to adopt them was based on guidance from the British Dyslexia Association and the Digital Accessibility Centre.
The first corporate publication to feature the updated branding was the House of Commons Annual Report and Accounts 2018-19, which is available via the UK Parliament website.
The NHS in England is made up of, and supported by, a number of different kinds of organisations at local and national level. They have produced a very useful guide to who does what and how NHS services are funded, delivered and regulated for your constituents.
If you are an MP or a member of an MP’s staff and would like a copy of the guide, please let us know by emailing editor@w4mp.org
Please note that this guide is not available to members of the public.
The House of Commons Governance Office has
launched a Rules Register drawing together rules
on access to and use of:
The Parliamentary Estate
The Rules Register is a topical index of Commons rules on access to and use of the estate, facilities, and digital services, .
The Rules Register is on ParliNet
Parliament has published the report by Gemma White QC into Bullying and Harassment of MPs’ Parliamentary Staff
You can read it here: Gemma White QC’s report.
The House of Commons Commission has published a response in which it states:
We condemn bullying and harassment of MPs’ staff and offer our full support to anyone in the parliamentary community who has suffered in this way.
The Commission does not employ the staff of MPs as they are employed by MPs themselves or via political parties.
However, the Commission takes very seriously its responsibility to ensure that Parliament is a modern workplace.