Today sees the launch of  “Sex and Power 2014: Who runs Britain?” which shows just how little progress has been made on gender equality in the UK’s political institutions and suggests what the UK’s governments, parliaments, political parties and media should do about it.

Among the report’s key findings is that the House of Commons has slipped from 59th (in early 2010) to 65th (today) in the world ranking of parliaments for gender equality.

Just 22.7% of our MPs are women. And whilst the figure for some of the devolved parliaments is better – 41.7% of Welsh Assembly members are women, for example – the situation amongst political journalists is even worse. Over 91% of print and broadcast political editors are male.

Today’s report makes six recommendations for what must happen to change this situation. It was written by Counting Women In, a coalition of organisations including the Electoral Reform Society, the Centre for Women & Democracy, the Fawcett Society, the Hansard Society and Unlock Democracy.

Read the report (pdf)

Visit the Electoral Reform Society website

The New Statesman, in association with the Webb Memorial Trust has announced the 2014 Webb Memorial Trust Essay Competition for young people aged between 18 and 25.

This year’s question is: How can business reduce poverty?

For further information, please visit: http://bit.ly/1w8rkhZ

Technicians will be cleaning and maintaining the Great Clock during the week of 18 August, and will be pausing the clock’s hands, so don’t rely on a quick glance out of the window to tell you if you’re on time for that important meeting! Apparently the chimes will continue, as we’re advised that the technicians – some of whom will be asbseiling down to clean the clock faces – have been issued with ear defenders.

 

More on the Parliament website

You may be interested in a special free online edition of Parliamentary Affairs, published  by the Hansard Society in advance of the Scottish independence referendum. Parliamentary Affairs editors Professors Philip Cowley and Jonathan Tonge have brought together a series of articles from the archive, to form a special online ‘virtual’ edition that will be free until the end of November.

You can read it on the Parliamentary Affairs website.

On 23 and 24 September the Parliamentary Outreach Service will be delivering a 2 day training course as part of the ‘Training the Trainer’ programme at 14 Tothill Street, London SW1H 9NB.

The programme is based around a training resource which has been designed so that organisations are able themselves to deliver training and information about Parliament and how people can engage effectively. It consists of the following 11 modules and each module includes a session plan, presentation and group exercises. The modules are designed so that they can be delivered either in sequence or stand alone.

• What is Democracy
• What is Parliament
• What is Government
• What is the House of Commons and the role of an MP
• What is the House of Lords and the role of a Lord
• How is a law made
• Local / National link
• How to engage effectively
• Select Committees
• The devolved assemblies
• The link between the European Parliament and the UK Parliament

If you would be interested in attending this training and please complete the Application Form and return it to [email protected]  .Places on this course are awarded according to how delegates plan to use the resource after the training with particular reference to reach, scope and sustainability so it is recommended to include as much detail as possible in the application.

The deadline for the application form is 22 August. The course is completely free of charge but the organisers ask that organisations sign a user agreement whereby they provide us with regular feedback as to how they are using the resource.

Please visit the website for further information about the course and additional dates and locations: http://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/outreach-and-training/train-the-trainer/

We have published a short introduction to Act – the Parliamentary Learning Management System – for new users, as it is being rolled out to all MP staff.

The guide is in the Training section of the site.

The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology has recently published the following two POSTnotes:

Childhood Allergy

PDF, 4 pages, 291.8 KB
In the UK, 40-50% of children have at least one diagnosed allergy. The increased prevalence of allergies negatively impacts affected children’s quality of life and puts pressure on health services. This note discusses the causes and extent of allergic disease in childhood, examines the links between allergy, genetics and the environment and summarises current research.

View at https://post.parliament.uk/research-briefings/post-pn-467/

Big Data and Public Health

PDF, 4 pages, 287 KB
Patient health records and other large scale medical and administrative datasets are increasingly being considered as a valuable tool for the study and improvement of health. This POSTnote examines the sources of data, their current and potential uses for health improvement, and the legal and practical issues raised by data use for public health or research purposes.

View at https://post.parliament.uk/research-briefings/post-pn-474/

If you would like further information on these briefings or to receive hard copies please contact [email protected] or 020 7219 8377.

Right.  It’s that time of year for lots of you W4MP followers out there.

Exams are (nearly) over….waiting for results……thinking of working for an MP, maybe…..what to do next?

Well, you could start by making sure that any application you submit gets the best possible chance of being considered seriously and not just binned.

A couple of years ago we wrote a guide on how to make the very best of your application for a job with an MP.  It is still our most popular guide and always worth reading in detail BEFORE you even start to write your application.

Many of the lessons may seem obvious but we reckon that 5 out of every 6 people applying are STILL sending in applications which stand them no chance of a job.

Click here to read the guide.

By the way, the lessons in that guide will be just as useful to those of you looking to move on to work outside Parliament.  Of course your experience here will look good on your CV but all that will be worth nothing if your application letter is full of howlers!

Oh, good luck by the way!

On July 9 the Hansard Society is holding an event looking at the critical topics facing Parliament in the year ahead. They note that “speculation is rife that the coalition may end early if political tensions between the parties escalate after party conference season and in the run up to the election. But whatever the outcome – whether they stick or split – this last year of the Parliament could be very different thanks to the Fixed Term Parliaments Act”.

Join constitutional expert Lord Norton, BBC parliamentary correspondent Mark D’Arcy, polling expert Deborah Mattinson of BritainThinks, and the Hansard Society’s Director, Ruth Fox, to debate the issues and challenges that lie ahead in this new, uncharted political territory.
 

When and where?

6:45pm, Wednesday 9th July in the Boothroyd Room, Portcullis House.

 

If you want to attend, register here.