Accessing Parliament and using research

effectively

Gary Hart

Lynn Hobson

June 2015

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Parliament’s Outreach ServiceParliament’s Outreach Service

a free service from the Houses of Parliament

politically neutral

aims to increase knowledge and engagement with work and processes of Parliament

@UKParlOutreach

Session objectivesSession objectivesBy the end of this session, you will know:

The ways your research could be used at Parliament

How to present your research effectively at Parliament

What there is to find in terms of Parliamentary Resources

Who to contact in Parliament and how.

The core tasks of The core tasks of ParliamentParliament

Makes and passes laws(Legislation)

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Holds Government to account

Enables the Government to set taxes

Parliament Parliament (Westminster)(Westminster)

Commons, Lords and Monarch

holds Government to account

passes laws

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Government (Whitehall)

• some MPs and some Lords, chosen by the Prime Minister

• runs Government departments and public services

Balancing the BriefBalancing the Brief

Library and Committee staff work for backbench and opposition MPs.

Ministers have hundreds of civil servants behind them.

Front-bench spokespeople do not serve on Committees (by convention)

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How does Parliament use research?

•House of Commons Select Committees•House of Lords Select Committees•Public Bill Committees•House of Commons Library•House of Lords Library •Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST)

Commons select committeesCommons select committees

Departmental select committees: Examine spending, policies and administration in each Government department

Cross-departmental committees: e.g. Public Accounts or Environmental Audit

Domestic committees: concerned with internal matters e.g. administration of the House itself or allegations about the conduct of individual MPs

Liaison Committee: oversight role – made up of all 33 Chairs of select committees

8

House of Lords select committees Examine issues rather than the work of specific

departments Investigate specialist subjects which take advantage

of the experience of members of the Lords Five main Lords select committees:

European Union Select Committee Science and Technology Select Committee Communications Select Committee Constitution Select Committee Economic Affairs Select Committees

Support for Select Support for Select Committee InquiriesCommittee Inquiries Clerk – procedure expert, manages committee Second clerk – “clerk in training”, manages

inquiries 2 x Committee specialists – subject experts,

manages and advises on inquiries, brief Members (suggests questions!)

Admin staff, media officer

CALL WITNESSES APPOINT SPECIAL ADVISERS FOR INQUIRIES RECEIVE WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS

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Role of Select CommitteesRole of Select Committees

Select Committee Chairs were elected on cross party basis 17th June

We expect Committee members to be in place by 21 July

Examine Government policy proposals and deficiencies.

Examine department’s actions and administration. Monitor associated public bodies.

Scrutinise major appointments.

Scrutinise draft bills.

Examine the implementation of legislation

The Committee The Committee inquiry processinquiry process

4. Report publication

5. Government reply

3. Report preparation

1. Inquiry initiation

2. Evidence gathering

Engaging with CommitteesEngaging with Committees Submitting evidence

◦ Written◦ Oral

Contact with staff◦ Informal

Specialist Adviser◦ formal

Work placement?

Keep up to date with committee activity – twitter, press notices, parliament.uk

Consider outputs that set out research developments and their potential policy applications

Public Bill CommitteesPublic Bill Committees Hear evidence Consider legislation, clause

by clause. Ad hoc – no fixed

membership May not be expert Government has a majority Report back to the House

where controversial issues may be debated again

More party political A good point to lobby

for very specific legislative changes

A word on pre-legislative scrutiny (draft bills): easier to influence policy formation

Evidence submission

The better evidence submissions:

directly address the questions asked by the Committee,

explain any complicated findings in a simple but intelligent way,

tailor which bits of research they present to be relevant to the inquiry,

gives sources of further information, only gives information relevant to

the inquiry

The less good evidence submissions: give over-complicated

information, give irrelevant information, do not answer the question, present information in a way

incomprehensible for non-academics.

Use the terms of reference: you need to tailor your research to the specific inquiry

Answer the questions posed in the Call for Evidence Write for an intelligent non-specialist: be relevant and concise State clearly who the submission is from - “Written evidence

submitted by xxxxxxx” Begin with a short summary in bullet form No more than 3000 words (or 8 sides of A4) Have numbered paragraphs Any factual information you have to offer from which the

committee might be able to draw conclusions, or which could be put to other witnesses for their reactions

Any recommendations for action by the Government or others which you would like the committee to consider

Submitting research

Impact of Select CommitteesImpact of Select CommitteesDirect impact

Difficult to measure 40% of recommendations to Government accepted either partially

or fully. (“Selective Influence: The Policy Impact of Select Committees” - research published in 2011 by Constitution Unit at UCL)

Indirect impact Influence on policy debates Highlighting issues which the Government might not have

considered Offering expert independent advice Exposing wrongful acts or inconsistencies in Government policy Causing the Government to act in anticipation of a select

committee inquiry Participation by the chair and other Committee members in

conferences, think tanks, media appearances

MisconceptionsMisconceptions Provide specialist impartial information and briefing

service for MPs, Peers, their staff, committees and staff of the Houses

For all parties

Subject specialists, 8 subject areas

Produce wide range of briefing material

Available online at www.parliament.uk under research publications

House of Commons and House of Lords Libraries

What is Library work used for?What is Library work used for? Opposition Front Bench team Hold Government to account Backbenchers –

◦ Scrutinising legislation◦ Debates (debate packs)◦ Media appearances◦ Constituents, surgeries◦ Specialist interests

Select Committees Other Parliaments’ Members

Main ‘outputs’Main ‘outputs’

Confidential briefings for MPs; 250 a month

Publish 100+ ‘standard notes’ on internet each year

Daily ‘current awareness’ email to over 100 subscribers

Personal briefings – e.g. new Opposition spokespersons

Library Research Papers

Engaging with the LibraryEngaging with the Library

Keep in touch with individual Library Specialists – let them know about research developments

Follow the Library or on Twitter @CommonsLibrary

Research Council funded internships in the future.

Specialists can be a conduit for getting information to policy makers

Library and committees increasingly co-located – a big group of specialists

Parliamentary Office of Science Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology: POSTNotes and Technology: POSTNotes http://www.parliament.uk/post http://www.parliament.uk/post

Each note take 3-4 months Interviews with around 15 experts Examples of notes:

422 - Mental Health and the Workplace

421 - Measuring Wellbeing

420 - Advanced Manufacturing

419 - Water Resource Resilience

418 - Balancing Nature and Agriculture

417 - Energy Use Behaviour Change

Administration

• Board – ten MPs, four Peers, four non-parliamentarians from science and technology community; and some parliamentary staff

• Staff – a Director, eight Advisers and two support staff

• Fellowships – ca. 30 per year

POST’s work must be...

• Clear

• Timely

• Balanced

• Independent

• Comprehensive

POSTnotes

Events

All Party Parliamentary GroupsAll Party Parliamentary Groups

Not formally recognised as a parliamentary proceeding

Often confused with Select Committees

Can do good work and carry influence (eg food waste, treatment of asylum seekers)

Must have a mix of parties amongst membership and members of both Houses

May be funded by interest groups. This should be apparent on publications but can be absent so beware.

Register of APPGs can be found on the internet

APPGs are a useful way to identify MPs/Lords with an interest in a certain issue

Where can I get information?Where can I get information?

www.parliament.uk

http://www.parliament.uk/post

http://commonslibraryblog.com

Commons Information Office 020 7219 4272 hcinfo@parliament.uk

Lords Information Office 020 7219 3107 hlinfo@parliament.uk

Parliament’s Outreach Service 020 7219 1650 parliamentaryoutreach@parliament.uk

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