training

Library/NAO talk: Unlocking land for housing

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Time: 10:30 – 11:30
Date: 2 July 2026
Location: Online via Teams
Booking: https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=9857

The government has set a milestone to deliver 1.5 million new homes over this Parliament to July 2029. This will require building more than 300,000 homes per annum on average, a level of housebuilding that was last achieved in the 1960s. The government says a chronic undersupply of land underpins the housing crisis. It believes there is suitable land in England for housebuilding that is not being developed by the market as it is not profitable or attractive enough for developers to build on in its current form. This can be due to factors such as the need for remediation work, a lack of infrastructure such as roads, or pieces of land making up a site being owned by different people or companies.

Join the National Audit Office as they discuss the key findings from their report on Unlocking land for housing. They assess whether MHCLG’s programmes to increase the supply of suitable land for housing development are effectively supporting the government’s ambitions to build the right homes in the right places. 

The National Audit Office (NAO) is the UK’s independent public spending watchdog. It supports Parliament in holding government to account and helps improve public services through its audits.

Library/NAO talk: Access to Work scheme

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Time: 10:30 – 11:30
Date: 25 June 2026
Location: Online via Teams
Booking: https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=9875

Access to Work is a demand-led grant scheme to help people get, or stay in, work if they have a physical or mental health condition or disability. Funding may pay for things like specialist equipment, support workers such as a British Sign Language interpreter, the costs of travelling to work and physical adaptations to the workplace.  The Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) typically approves support for individuals for three years, up to a maximum annual total, which was £69,260 in 2024-25 and 2025-26.

Join the National Audit Office as they discuss key findings from their report on The Access to Work scheme, which covers:

  • the purpose of the Access to Work scheme
  • take-up of the scheme
  • how DWP is managing the increased take-up of the scheme

The National Audit Office (NAO) is the UK’s independent public spending watchdog. It supports Parliament in holding government to account and helps improve public services through its audits.

Library talk: The NATO Summit 2026

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The NATO summit will take place in Ankara on 7 and 8 July. Join Library experts from our International Affairs and Defence team to find out more about the key topics for discussion and what we might expect from the Summit.

Time: 10:30 – 11:30
Date: 18 June 2026
Location: Online via Teams
Booking: https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=10108

Library Talk: Representation of the People Bill

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Need a refresher on the Representation of the People Bill? As the bill is carried over into the next parliamentary session, this talk can help you get the facts on the main points of the bill, key changes at committee and more.

Time: 10:30 – 11:30
Date: Tuesday 9 June 2026
Location: Online via Teams
Booking: https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=9727

The House Magazine’s Lord Cormack Fellowship

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Applications for this amazing opportunity for aspiring political journalists are now open, and the deadline for applications is 22 June 2026.

Total Politics Group is proud to announce the return of the Lord Cormack Fellowship, a paid editorial and political journalism fellowship with The House magazine, Parliament’s independent and cross-party publication.

The fellowship is named in honour of Lord Patrick Cormack, the late politician, author and journalist who co-founded The House. Generously supported by his family, the scheme reflects Lord Cormack’s deep-rooted values of editorial impartiality, cross-party collaboration, and respect for the institution of Parliament.

The Lord Cormack Fellowship is open to individuals over the age of 18 and will run from July 6 to August 7 2026; it has been designed to be fully accessible. The selected fellow will be paid the London Living Wage during the first week in London, with accommodation provided by the Royal Foundation of St Katharine for those who require it. The fellow will also receive our standard freelance fee for any work published in the magazine.

Please see here for full details: The House Magazine’s Lord Cormack Fellowship

Evidence Week 2026 – from 6 July 2026

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Bitesize online training sessions for parliamentary staff, provided by the UK’s leading experts including the House of Commons Library, ONS and OSR.

For more information and registration for these sessions, please visit the Evidence Week website

Monday 6 July
Modern information warfare 14:00 – 14:45 (online)
How to combat disinformation in the digital age with the House of Commons Library.

Tuesday 7 July
Use, understand and present numbers well in your work 14:00 – 14:45 (online)
Find out how the Code of Practice for Statistics can help – with the Office for Statistics Regulation.

Wednesday 8 July
Risk Know-How 14:00 – 14:45 (online)
How to understand and present risks effectively with Risk Know-How.

Thursday 9 July
Are you using a reliable survey? 11:00 – 11:45 (online)
How to spot trustworthy survey data with the National Centre for Social Research.

AI fakes 14:00 – 14:45 (online)
What to check with Full Fact.

Friday 10 July
How could changes in different industries and products affect the UK economy? 11:00 – 11:45 (online)
Get trained to use the unique UK calculator with the Office for National Statistics.

How to use spatial insights 14:00 – 14:45 (online)
Access to geographic data that can help address local challenges with Smart Data Research UK.

New open access online Political Staffer Resource Centre

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The Political Staffer Resource Centre offers recommendations, advice and support for political advisers, their managers, and advocates for reform.

It’s an open access resource developed by Professor Jennifer Lees-Marshment at The University of Dundee from research on the human resource management of political staff – see https://www.dundee.ac.uk/political-staffer-resource-centre

It shares practical recommendations from interviewing political staffers and those working in close association with them about what best practices they had experienced, observed and developed over time when working in parliament and government. It covers:

  • The role of a Political Staffer – the different roles, skills required and motivations
  • Recruiting and selecting political staff – what to look for, where to find people, how to assess them
  • Orientating and onboarding political staff – how to learn the job, how to help other staff learn the job, including both informal and formal approaches
  • Ongoing training and career development – content to cover, how to train them on the job, self-training, and formal programmes
  • Making workloads in political offices feasible – prioritisation, planning, structures, self-managing workloads, enabling breaks and work-life balance
  • Giving impactful feedback – on the spot, more in-depth reviews, giving usable feedback and making room for dialogue
  • Building positive cultures in political offices – creating positive teams and safe spaces to grow and develop
  • Maintaining morale and motivation – setting a clear purpose, highlighting making a difference, being more connected and involved
  • Wellbeing strategies for political offices – acknowledging the pressures, restricting non-urgent out of hours contact and supporting effective leave

To access the resources complete a simple form https://www.dundee.ac.uk/political-staffer-resource-centre/access-gated-content It’s free to register.

And please share with anyone you know who is interested in this area – whether they are a current staffer especially if they are managing other advisers; a new staffer starting out; a civil servant who supports political staff; a politician who wants to understand how to get the best out of their staff; or a campaigner fighting for reform and investment in political staffing.

We want the resource centre to grow over time through global peer learning, so we have created a mechanism for people to share additional ideas for how they put these principles: just use the sharing solutions form https://www.dundee.ac.uk/political-staffer-resource-centre/sharing-solutions-form.

If you have any feedback, please email us on politicalstaffer@dundee.ac.uk

Political Staffer Resource Centre https://www.dundee.ac.uk/political-staffer-resource-centre

MMSST Constituency Roadshow Events – North West and North East

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The Members and Members’ staff Services Team will be hosting constituency roadshows in Manchester and Newcastle in May.

These events are specifically for Members’ staff and form part of the wider programme of roadshows taking place across the UK. 

They offer a valuable opportunity for Members’ staff to deepen their understanding of the wide range of support and services provided by the House Administration and IPSA, while also providing a chance to connect and network with colleagues from other local offices. 

To sign-up to the event and for more information about the roadshows please visit ParliNet | North West and North East Roadshows.