The House of Commons Library has created a page with links to a selection of reports related to COVID-19, including analysis of the Government’s response and policy developments.
To view the page, please click here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/
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 [email protected] and they will sign you up and send you a link.
Bringing you the latest in Westminster and beyond.
Each week the House of Commons Library will tackle a new topic in 20 minutes, helping you stay up to date. The schedule for future episodes is as follows:
Please listen, and subscribe via the site if you’d like to have future episodes delivered straight to your inbox.
Find the podcast here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/category/podcast/
Happy listening!
House of Commons Library
The House of Commons Library is offering four new ‘taster’ courses aimed at helping you answer common constituents’ questions in the areas of housing, special educational needs, employment law and anti-social behaviour.
The training will be provided in Westminster by experienced lawyers. You can sign-up via ACT by first logging into the ACT Learning Pool (via Office 365), and then clicking the links below:
Introduction to Housing Law for caseworkers
The Law and Special Educational Needs and Disability
An introduction to employment law for caseworkers
The Law and anti-social behaviour
Once you have registered, we will be in touch with further details. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected] or call x3666.
The House of Commons Library organises regular talks on topical issues, delivered by subject specialists. You can view the list of both forthcoming and past talks here:
https://parliament.learningpool.com/course/view.php?id=1563
Past House of Commons Library Talks are also available in audio format on the UK Parliament YouTube Channel.
w4mp is not able to investigate complaints about MPs or the House of Commons. Please do not send complaints or personal information to w4mp, as we will not be able to assist.
There are two organisations which deal with complaints about Members of Parliament:
You may wish to contact the House of Commons Enquiry Service for further advice on how to make a complaint.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards will investigate allegations that an MP has broken the Code of Conduct and the rules associated with it. These include for example rules about:
The Commissioner will not investigate complaints about:
Further information can be found here: https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/standards-and-financial-interests/parliamentary-commissioner-for-standards/complaints-and-investigations/
http://www.parliamentarycompliance.org.uk/
The post of Compliance Officer for IPSA was established by the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009, as amended by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.
The Compliance Officer’s remit is defined in statute and is to:
As the Compliance Officer’s role is confined to matters pertaining to the Scheme, he has no power to investigate complaints that pre-date the creation of IPSA in May 2010. Complaints regarding expense claims prior to May 2010 are usually handled by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
LIBRARY: Authoritative guides to help in your job, useful links and light reading.
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Since it began in 2000 w4mp has commissioned an extensive collection is a of guides to good practice to provide you with advice and support in carrying out the main activities expected of you in your job.
Most guides are written by staff working for MPs; some originate from various House Departments or our good friends in the House of Commons Library.
Guides are constantly being revised and updated so if you do print a guide out please remember to check back from time to time to see if changes have been made.
You can search the whole site, including guides, using the standard search bar or this search box:
Or you can follow these links
If you would like to see a full list of all guides then we have a Guide Index that you can consult.
A new version of the ‘My Constituency’ iPad app has been released on the iTunes Store. Created by the find people in the House of Commons Library it will display key statistics for each constituency area including election results, unemployment, youth unemployment and population,
screenshot
In this version new datasets have been added and improvements to the displays have been made.
You can find out and compare results from one area to another and against the region or the UK as a whole. The information is displayed in bar charts and line graphs. Or you can use My Constituency’s map to find out about a constituency and those around it.
The datasets are produced by House of Commons Library statisticians using a variety of authoritative sources including the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Department for Work and Pensions. The unemployment figures are updated monthly and with other statistics updated annually.
Find out more and if you do download it you might like to provide feedback.
View In iTunes (an Android version is promised for the next release)
The Library Book Loans Service provides loans of books and an inter-library loans service for material not held in the Library.
The service is available to Members and House staff, in connection with their Parliamentary duties. Named Members’ staff can request and collect items on behalf of their Member.
Items can be collected from the Members’ Library, or in exceptional circumstances, posted to the borrower. Special arrangements exist for constituency staff.
The Library Loans Service is based in the Members’ Library in the Palace of Westminster. Contact 020 7219 1515 or [email protected].
For more detailed information, see the Commons Library Book Loan intranet page
The House of Commons Library is a research and information service based in UK Parliament.
We provide politically impartial research, analysis, statistics and information resources. Our work helps MPs scrutinise legislation, prepare for debates, develop policies and support their constituents.
Our publications are available to everyone at commonslibrary.parliament.uk
The easiest way to learn about the Commons Library is to book or arrange a ‘Make the most of the Library’ session.
In this one-hour course, you will:
The Commons Library provides a range of services for MPs and their staff, including impartial research and access to resources and training.
Publications: Our publications offer politically impartial analysis and statistics. We cover legislation, topical issues, policy and constituency issues. Our briefings and data tools are written by our expert staff and are available online. Read about the different types of research: https://w4mp.org/w4mp/w4mp-guides/the-library/research-briefings-standard-notes-and-debate-packs/
Confidential Request Service: We answer MPs’ questions and requests for bespoke briefings. These tailored and timely responses help MPs fulfil their parliamentary duties and represent their constituents. Our confidential service includes fact-checking, policy development and analysis, and help to answer constituents’ questions.
Information Resources: MPs, their staff and parliamentary staff can access our curated collection of books, journals, databases, news subscriptions and parliamentary material.
Training and events: We offer training, support and talks on topical issues from our subject specialists. Our training and events help MPs, their staff and parliamentary staff get the most from the Library.
Workspace: Members’ Library is a quiet workspace for MPs, and a place to access our books and newspapers, make research requests and pick up printed copies of our publications. MPs’ staff can go into the Members’ Library to submit a research request or take out books on loan.
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/resources/
The Commons Library provides books, journals and online resources for MPs, MPs’ staff and parliamentary staff. On this page you can:
The Commons Library arranges inductions, training and events for MPs, MPs’ staff and parliamentary staff to help you get the best out of the Library:
Make the most of the Library sessions: The easiest way to learn about Library services is to sign up for one of our Introduction to the Library sessions. The course provides you with the tools to:
Events and guest speakers: House of Commons Library subject specialists give occasional talks on topics of interest to Members and their staff and other @parliament.uk users. They also invite guest speakers from organisations such as the National Audit Office.
Regular training courses: The Library provides regular training courses on parliamentary search, Nexis News, books, journals and more.
Guidance and training on resources and guidance: The Library has prepared guides to the range of online resources and databases available to Parliament, such as news subscriptions, NewsBank, Grantfinder and more. The guides cover:
The Commons Library catalogue contains records of the Library’s collection of hard copy and electronic books, pamphlets, reports, official publications, periodicals (journals), corporate subscriptions and online reference sources. Each record gives details of author, title, publisher, publication date and Library location.
It also provides an inter-library loans service for items not held by the Library (including periodical articles).
You can reserve a book or other stored material using the online catalogue. You can also view the status of your loans, reserve items, and request the loan of an item that you cannot find on the catalogue.
Explore the Commons Library’s extensive collection of online and hardcopy materials: https://commonslibrary.koha-ptfs.co.uk/.
You can contact our team of subject specialists for help with research or information about any area relevant to you.
Whether you’re reviewing or developing policy, preparing for a speech or media appearance, helping a constituent or trying to understand an issue affecting your local area, Library staff can answer your questions in confidence.
It’s helpful to the Library staff to know exactly what you need and when. For example, you may be looking for statistics about your constituency, analysis of government policy, an overview of the law in a particular area or information on the support individuals can expect from public sector organisations. Sharing relevant correspondence or documents will help them understand your request and how we can help.
It may be that the information you’re looking for is already published on the Library’s website. Before submitting a request for information and research from the Library’s team of subject specialists, please do look at the material already published on the Library website: commonslibrary.parliament.uk
Specialist research can also be requested: see ParliNet for details.
Our Subject Specialist Directory provides contact details of specialists in each section and includes information on how to submit a request:
Get the latest Commons Library research and curated newsletters delivered to your inbox. This includes:
Sign up to the subscriptions in the link above.
Follow the Library on X: @CommonsLibrary