Members’ offices are offered an opportunity to join an in-person briefing in Bristol with representatives of relevant services from across the House Administration and IPSA to find out more about the Dissolution Guidance and ask any questions they may have.
To register to attend, please email MST@parliament.uk
Did you know that the Members’ Services Team runs discussion forums on Teams for Caseworkers and those who have a management role in an MP’s office?
The Members’ Office Management Forum has a weekly meeting at 11:00 every Wednesday which is full of useful information and gives the opportunity to raise queries with representatives from the Parliamentary Digital Service, the Parliamentary Security Department, the Human Resources team, the House of Commons Library, the Vote Office and more. There are weekly guest speakers, including regular visits from IPSA. It also has a text chat facility for when you have quick questions to ask.
The Caseworker Discussion Forum hosts a monthly All-Staff Q&A which you can sign up for on ACT, and the text chat is always active.
If you would like to be added to either (or both) of these forums, please email MST@parliament.uk from your parliamentary network account, stating which MP you work for and your role in the office.
On Thursday 18 May from 9:30-10:30am, Apple are running a webinar for Parliament to demo how you can use the built-in features to set up your device preferences. Here you can learn some incredible accessibility features to help customer your iOS device, such as your iPhone or iPad.
This session will cover features on the below areas:
There will also be a Q&A section.
To join this session please email the Digital Service Accessibility Champions who will forward on an invitation.
If you have a parliamentary PC or laptop which has the Windows 10 operating system, you must update to the latest version of Windows 10 as soon as possible.
Go to the Software Center on your computer (click in the search box and type in ‘software center’ and it will find it for you.) Then click on ‘Operating Systems’ in the left menu and then click on the update in the main window.
The update process is very simple, but takes around three hours. Your computer can be left unattended once it has properly started, so it might be best to set it running at the end of your work day.
The deadline for completing the update is 25 February 2022. Please contact the support desk (0207 219 2001) if you are unable to get into your offices to update your computers.
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/
PDS are offering virtual IT coaching sessions to MPs’ staff
PDS local engagement officers would normally travel to visit constituencies to assist MPs and their staff with training and general IT concerns but during the Covid 19 crisis their focus has changed to offer this support remotely.
You can now book a remote coaching session on a variety subjects including: Cyber Security, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive and OneNote. Sessions are open to all, you can book for your team or take advantage of a 1-2-1 coaching session. Sessions last 45 minutes and are delivered at your own pace, no previous technical knowledge is required.
To find out more and book a session click here:
As you will be aware, as a result of the cyber-attack at the weekend, the good folks in the IT department have been working round the clock to protect the system.
Many of you will find that you are having problems logging in at the moment, whilst the work is ongoing.
Please do not ring the help desk. If you’re on the Parliamentary estate, please be patient and don’t swamp the help desk with calls – they are working on it as fast as they can, and every extra phone call takes them away from the task in hand. If you do need to speak to someone, please go one of the drop-in centres instead:
Drop-in centres
Lords Members and Lords Members staff: Moses Room (9am)
Commons Members: Members Centre, PCH (9am)
Commons Members staff: Boothroyd Room (10am)
Staff of both Houses and Digital Service Staff: Boothroyd Room (10am)
Digital Service colleagues will be floor-walking in Fielden House, Millbank House, 7 Millbank and 14 Tothill Street from 10.00 am.
If you’re in the Constituency
Please be patient. The Digital Service team will contact you in due course – there’s a lot of people to contact, so it will take a while.