Having a good level of emotional resilience can positively affect teams, colleagues, other individuals and one’s own wellbeing, increasing productivity and performance in the workplace. Individuals will have a better chance of delivering results at work if they are able to deal with stressful life events.
The course will focus on managing emotional health and empowering delegates to support others. It will help delegates to identify and respond to increasing demands in a way that helps them to get through challenging situations and continue to learn and grow.
For full details and dates, please click here: https://parliament.learningpool.com/course/view.php?id=575
This course will cover the essentials of good writing which are needed for drafting briefings such as content, structure, layout & use of language that meets the reader’s needs, and the process of drafting, editing and clearing a briefing.
For full details and dates, click here: https://parliament.learningpool.com/course/view.php?id=553
What is a division? Where is the Lobby? What is the difference between a PPS, a PPC, an APPG and a POPTART? And, the greatest mystery of them all, just what exactly are the Lords doing when they are “at pleasure”?
One of the most overwhelming difficulties of starting a job in parliament can be coming to terms with the language, which quite often might as well be Swahili for a newcomer.
In an attempt to help the public connect with parliament, the Modernisation Committee made some changes to the language and procedures used around the place. For example, the procedure whereby Members wishing to raise a point of order used to have to wear a special hat, like a pirate, was abolished in 1998 to the dismay of the more fashionably (and piratically ) minded MPs of the time.
Similarly, ‘I spy strangers’ (formerly used to request that the House sit in private), ‘strangers’ being members of the public, was abolished in and replaced with the rather less romantic request that the ‘House sit in private’.
While there may be a certain smugness which emanates from being able to understand such obscurities, many feel that the use of such language further turns off an already disengaged public. Others argue it creates a sense of occasion and tradition and helps maintain dignified discussion.
The BBC also has a very good jargon-buster, called the A-Z of Parliament.
Parliament’s Education Service works with schools to support young people’s understanding of Parliament and democracy; they are here: https://learning.parliament.uk/en/
ES March 2013
Training
The main resource for training for Members’ Staff is The Members’ Services Team.
Courses take place online, on the Parliamentary Estate and regionally, and if a course of interest is not available at a convenient location or date, they will endeavour to accommodate specific requirements, subject to sufficient demand (12 delegates and above).
Courses are free of charge to all Members’ staff who are paid through IPSA’s staffing allowance and travel costs to training events can be met from the expenses scheme administered by IPSA.
The full course catalogue is available via Act – the Parliamentary learning management system. Some courses are advertised as being for House staff, but MPs’ staff can still sign up for some of them, such as some of the courses from Parliamentary Digital. If in doubt, please do contact L&D for advice.
If you see a course you’d like to do, but there isn’t a session advertised yet, please do put yourself on the waiting list so that the MST knows that people are interested. This will also ensure that you get a notification of when a session is available.
email: [email protected]
House of Commons Library
The House of Commons Library arranges inductions, training and events for MPs and MPs’ staff. Visit the Library’s website to find out more.
To receive information on all upcoming Commons Library training courses and events, sign up for email updates for MPs’ staff and bookmark the Library’s ACT page.
Latest Training Courses
The guest speakers at the January Caseworker Discussion Forum will be from Full Fact, the fact checkers and campaigners who find, expose and counter the harm done by bad information. Time: 10:30 – 11:30Date: Thursday 16 January 2024Location: Online via MS TeamsBooking: https://parliament.learningpool.com/course/view.php?id=1953 Read more about Full Fact here: https://fullfact.org/about/
Join the Parliamentary Registrar for a training session on how to register Members’ financial interests. Time: 11:30 – 13:00Date: Tuesday 10 December 2024Location: In-Person and OnlineBooking: https://parliament.learningpool.com/course/view.php?id=2309
Meta are hosting a virtual training for MPs and their staffers to showcase the tools they can use to stay safe and secure across Meta technologies next week Friday 6th Dec at 10h00. As part of this training, they will also cover Meta Support Pros, a dedicated support service to address operational and technical issues…
A training session provided by the House of Commons, aimed at Member’s staff caseworkers. Time: 15:00 – 16:30Date: Tuesday 10 December 2024Location: OnlineBooking essential – https://parliament.learningpool.com/course/view.php?id=1918 Casework and correspondence to MPs from resettled refugees in constituencies across the UK has grown in recent years as the number of resettled refugees arriving in the UK has…
Time: 12:00Date: Wednesday 27 November 2024 This online webinar is your chance to learn about the value that PolicyMogul provides for MPs, peers and parliamentary staff. As well as an overview of the platform’s features, we will highlight some best practices related to getting the most out of the platform. Session includes Q&A. PolicyMogul is…
There are two “How to be a Select Committee Member” events taking place this week. If your Member has recently been elected to a Select Committee, they are strongly encouraged to attend. Wednesday 23 October 2024, 10am – 10.50am (Macmillan Room, Portcullis House). Tuesday 29 October 2024, 10 – 10.50am (Macmillan Room, Portcullis House). The…
Are you going to be supporting a Member serving on a select committee? Or, do you simply want to understand more about how select committees work? The Select Committee Team is offering training for Members’ staff on ‘how to support your Member with select committee work’. This is a virtual event, which will be held…
This training session will be delivered by Protect, a UK independent whistleblowing charity and legal advice centre. Members of Parliament are designated in the law as people to whom whistleblowers can disclose information about wrongdoing, risks and malpractice. This training aims to help MPs and their staff who may receive concerns understand their role in…
The Benefits Training Company produces a monthly newscast which features three of their benefits experts discussing the latest benefits news stories including changes to legislation, DWP announcements, relevant case law and guidance. There are links to the sources of the items discussed, and some that aren’t discussed if they think they might help. In this…
Two new dates for Caseworker Software Training have become available to sign-up to on ACT (3 and 10 October). Please note, these sessions are for staff of newly elected Members only at this time. Sessions for staff of returned Members will be organised in due course. Sign-up via the link: Course: Caseworker Software Training for MPs’…
