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 hclibrary@parliament.uk.
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
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research/
The Commons Library provides an impartial research and information service for MPs and their staff. It publishes politically-impartial policy analysis and statistical research, free for all to read. Explore quick-read articles, in-depth research, and interactive data visualisations.
The Library also provides research of the weekly business of the House of Commons: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/this-week/.
Research briefings: In-depth analysis of bills, legislation, policy and topical issues. Read quick summaries online and download the corresponding PDF documents to access the full analysis.
Insights: Quick-read articles on current issues. These are published in line with topical events and provide need-to-know information on local and global topics.
Debate Packs: Research that is produced in relation to debates taking place in the Commons Chamber and Westminster Hall. They contain background information, parliamentary and press material, and suggested further reading.
Data tools and resources: Browse datasets and interactive dashboard on a range of topics. View our Constituency Dashboard for headline statistics about your constituency, explore parliamentary and elections data, and get the latest data on the economy.
Constituency casework articles: FAQs and quick explainers to help caseworkers with a range of constituent queries.
The Commons Library research can be viewed by topic and sub-topic. The links to these listings can be saved as bookmarks so you can go straight to the subjects you are interested in.
The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) is a bicameral body within Parliament which produces impartial, timely and peer-reviewed research, on topics such as biology, health, energy, environment and physical and social sciences.
Find out more about POST: https://post.parliament.uk/about-us/.
POSTNotes: Four-page research briefings reviewing emerging areas of research.
POSTBriefs: Dynamic and strategic syntheses, produced rapidly in response to current affairs or the work of select committees.
Rapid responses: Rapid response content published within weeks of important research developments, produced to brief parliamentarians.
This very useful Standard Note by Christopher Barclay in the Commons Library provides a short introduction to planning, including the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), mainly to assist with replying to constituency questions.
It is on the public website at: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn05378/.
It includes:
One of Parliament’s main roles is debating and passing laws, and Parliament’s public website has an excellent guide to the process, describing all the different types of Bills and Secondary Legislation.
You can find the guide here: https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/laws/
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: MST@parliament.uk
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.
PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF TIME AND DATE Time: 14:00 – 15:00Date: Wednesday 22 May 2024 The May 2024 forum will be on the topic of Help with childcare costs. It will be led by David Foster and Niamh Foley from the Library’s Social Policy Section. To book, please go here: https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/signup.php?s=16684
PolicyMogul is putting on three webinars for parliamentary users: This online webinar is your chance to learn about the value that PolicyMogul provides for MPs, peers, PPCs 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…
Welcome to Parliament. The new joiner induction sessions are now available to book via the ACT portal if you have a new joiner in your office, please share with them. This session will welcome you to being part of the Parliamentary community and cover essential information from key House services that will help you to…
Join the Vote Office to learn more about its role in Parliament and develop your understanding of parliamentary business papers, publications and government reports. There are three online sessions covering different aspect of the Vote Office’s work. Each session lasts for thirty minutes. Introduction to the Vote Office: Monday 25 March 2024 at 1-1.30pmVote Office…
This short online course is designed to give learners an overview of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). To find out more and enrol, please go here: https://parliament.learningpool.com/course/view.php?id=1344
Time: 10:30 – 11:30Date: Thursday 21 March 2024Location: Virtual via Microsoft Teams The March 2024 forum will be on the topic of Local government finance for caseworkers. We will be joined by Mark Sandford from the Library’s Parliament and Constitution Centre and Phil Brien from our Economic Policy and Statistics Section. To book, click here:…
Available to all Members’ Staff: Course Overview Most of the sessions are now fully booked, but there are still spaces for 26 March 2024 from 09:30 to 11:30. You can also join the wait-list for future sessions. To sign up or join the wait-list, please go to ACT: https://parliament.learningpool.com/course/view.php?id=2109 and log in using your Parliamentary…
The ICO is hosting a webinar for Members’ staff on Constituency Casework Data and Dissolution on Thursday 7 March from 2pm. There will be an open Q&A session where you can ask any questions on this subject. To attend, please visit this page and then follow the link to register: https://parlinet.parliament.uk/information-resources/news-newsletters-notices/news/2024/february/preparing-casework-for-dissolution/
House of Commons Training Session Course Overview Sessions available on: To book, please go here: https://parliament.learningpool.com/course/view.php?id=2109
Time: 14:30 – 15:30Date: Thursday 22 February 2024Location: Virtual via Microsoft Teams The February 2024 forum will be on the topic of Common employment law disputes. We will be joined by Patrick Brione from the Library’s Business and Transport Section. To book, please go here: https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/signup.php?s=16610