Library Briefing on Election Timetable

Since the general election in 2010, when Parliament was dissolved by prerogative powers and the election timetable lasted 17 days, two pieces of legislation have made changes to the triggering of, and timetable for, a general Parliamentary election.

The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 fixes the date of the next general election as 7 May 2015, and provides for five year intervals between elections. The Act ends the prerogative power of dissolution. The Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 made provision for lengthening the UK Parliamentary election timetable, both for general and by-elections. These provisions have been brought into force and Parliament will have to be dissolved 25 rather than 17 days before the general election on 7 May 2015. The by-election timetable will now also vary between 21 and 27 days from the issuing of the writ. For further details see Library Standard Note 6609, By-election timetables.

A brief outline of the timetable for the 2015 General Election is provided in this Note. Parliament will be dissolved on Monday 30 March 2015, Day 0 of the timetable, for polling day to be on Day 25, Thursday 7 May 2015. The Electoral Commission has recently published full details of the timetable for 7 May 2015 on its website.

Read the Briefing Note (pdf)

Useful guide to moving house

Researchers and caseworkers tend to move from time to time- we know, we see the adverts -so this guide from the Property Friend website may be of interest.

Moving House Checklist

Speakers Lecture 2015

‘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

ParliOUT named as one of the UK’s ‘Awesome Networks’

ParliOUT, the Workplace Equality Network (WEN) in support of LGBTIQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersexual, and questioning) people in Parliament, has been named as one of the UK’s ‘Awesome Networks’ by Inclusive Networks. This is the second accolade within five months that ParliOUT has been awarded.

Inclusive Networks is a hub for celebrating diversity and inclusion and has named 40 network groups of all types and from all sectors for its inaugural awards. The awards aim to celebrate the positive impact of network groups such as ParliOUT and also to thank those people who coordinate the networks, often in addition to their day jobs.

Jenny Radcliffe and Martin Smith, Co-Chairs of the ParliOUT Workplace Equality Network said:

“We are absolutely delighted that ParliOUT has been named as one of the inaugural Awesome Networks! The ParliOUT Committee are passionate about supporting LGBTIQ people and allies in Parliament, and we are working to make LGBTIQ role models more visible and accessible across the organisation. We also provide a welcoming social forum and informal support network. Thank you very much to anyone that nominated us.”

In October 2014 ParliOUT was also named as the Best Employee Network by Pink News.

About ParliOUT

ParliOUT provides a welcoming social forum and informal support network for people from across Parliament. Alongside Parliament’s other Workplace Equality Networks (ParliREACH, Parliagender and ParliAble), ParliOUT strives to create a supportive and inclusive working environment by providing support, guidance, educational and networking opportunities to all staff and Members of both Houses of Parliament.

Since the Network was founded in December 2010 it has hosted many different events from film screenings to guest speaker events on subjects as diverse as Coming Out at Work through to Transgender People in the Workplace. ParliOUT also launched its own advice and guidance service which can offer confidential advice to anyone working in Parliament regardless of sexual orientation or job role. In the last 12 months, they have launched their Twitter channel and facilitated a leadership programme for LGBT people.

More information on ParliOUT can be found here: http://bit.ly/1vOQBP9

Electoral Reform Society calls ‘the Lottery Election’

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)

alt.guides and our monthly cartoon

Hoby Cartoon

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.

The origins of w4mp

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.)

Speakers Commission on Digital Democracy

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

Stonewall Workplace Equality Index 2015

The House of Commons has received its result in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index for 2015 and we are delighted to inform you that we have risen 29 places to rank 126th out of 397 participating employers.

The Workplace Equality Index is an effective way to measure efforts to tackle discrimination and create an inclusive workplace for lesbian, gay and bisexual employees. Since 2005, more than 800 major employers have taken part in the Index using Stonewall’s criteria as a model for good practice. Stonewall revises the Index criteria every three years.

ParliOUT members are thanked for completing the anonymous survey, as well as their contribution to making parliament a more inclusive employer and service provider. We still have a lot of work to do but this proves that we continue to move in the right direction.

Anne Foster, Head of Diversity and Inclusion.

Exploring Digital: New Seminar Series Starts 22 January

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.