House of Commons Commission - Twenty-first Annual Report 1998-99

Twenty-First Annual Report 1998-99

Annex A – Department of the Official Report

Department of the Official Report
Annual Report 1998-99

Purpose

The Department's purpose is the production of edited verbatim reports of the proceedings of the House and its Standing Committees and the processing and printing of written answers.

Services provided

2.	(a)	Overnight production of reports of the proceedings on the Floor of the House and of written answers
	(b)	Production, overnight where possible, given the constraints of the work load and the availability of staff, of reports of proceedings in Standing Committees.
	(c)	Provision of electronic on-line access to the Official Report daily part and bound volumes.
	(d)	Operation of annunciator service.
	Organisation

The approved complement as at 31 March 1999 is set out in the chart.

(a)	The Editor is the head of the department and is appointed by the Speaker, as are the three Deputies. He is ultimately responsible for the performance of the Department, the timely and accurate delivery to the House of the reports of the proceedings, and for the staff of the Department.
(b)	The Deputy Editor (Personnel, Finance and Administration) is the Department's principal finance officer and the establishments officer. His duties require him to oversee the Department's financial affairs, all personnel and pay matters, and training and health and safety.
(c)	The Deputy Editor (House) is in daily overall control of the reporting of the proceedings of the House as they appear in the daily part and the bound volume. His task is to ensure that the reports are produced on time and to the necessary standard.
(d)	The Deputy Editor (Committees) is in day-to-day charge of the Committee reporting division. She is responsible for ensuring the timely and accurate production of Standing Committee reports, which involves applying quality control procedures and providing the necessary staff resources.

Current and future activities

The Department's principal areas of activity are the reporting of the proceedings of the House and its Standing Committees. A flexible approach to the deployment of staff between these two areas of operation enables the Department to respond to the changing balance of demand between them as the parliamentary year progresses.

In overall terms the year under report has been a satisfactory one for the Department. Its publications have been produced reliably and to time, and the levels of performance have exceeded those required by the agreed standards. In the pursuit of improved quality, the required performance levels are to be raised over the four-year cycle of the Official Report's business plan.

There were two major events in the affairs of the Department. The first was the reorganisation of the management structure arising from the implementation of the findings of the senior management review. Two additional deputy editors were appointed, enabling the existing deputy editor to concentrate on issues related to personnel, management and finance while the new posts took control of the House and Standing Committee reporting divisions respectively. The change has provided a more effective system of day-to-day management of staff. It has also led to the creation of a management board within the department. Furthermore, with the new appointments, it is now possible for greater attention to be focused on the increasingly important areas of personnel and finance, particularly the move to resource accounting and budgeting. It has also led to the creation of a more effective system of quality control, including rapid feedback to editorial staff, and has enabled the Department to participate in interdepartmental and House-wide bodies to a considerably greater extent than was possible under the previous arrangements.

The second event was the in-house electronic production of written answers. Last year's report announced the establishment in 7 Millbank of a unit dedicated to the keying of the text of the questions and answers. That unit came into full operation at the start of the reporting year and has produced work of the highest standard, exceeding the performance levels set for it. The creation of the unit has resulted in more written answers being printed on the day that they are given and to a higher standard of typographical accuracy. The unit also contributes significantly to the Department's objective of reducing production costs by supplying the text of the daily part to the print contractor in electronic format.

In common with other House Departments, good progress was made on moving towards Investors in People accreditation. As the year closed, the Department was finalising its draft action plan and letter of commitment

The Hansard on-line text system, the web browser facility which is available over the PDVN and which provides access to the daily part internally within Parliament from 7.30 each morning, continued to develop well, showing a 31 per cent. growth in use, notwithstanding the fact that the system was unavailable for most of August while the Department's computer systems were refurbished. Minor improvements to the "look and feel" of the system were made during the year, and plans have been drawn up for a major overhaul during 1999-00.

Notwithstanding the advent of free electronic availability of the Official Report on the Parliamentary web site, the average daily print run has remained fairly constant. The figures for the past four years are as shown in the chart. Publication on the internet began in October 1996.

(a)	House reporting The division is responsible for the production of the Hansard daily part and the bound volume. A team of sub-editors oversees the work of reporters. Their task is to maintain the flow of copy to The Stationery Office's parliamentary data centre so that the daily part can be printed and distributed to the required schedule, ensuring that it is available in the Vote Office and electronically on the PDVN the next morning at 7.30.
	Following the House-wide senior management review, a Deputy Editor (House) was appointed in July. The division was then established as a cost centre and contributed to the PES/Estimates exercise. Working arrangements in the Assistant Editors' room were reorganised to provide a more efficient distribution of the work. Changes in other areas are being considered in the light of the European Union working time directive and alterations in the sitting times of the House.
	A new system of quality monitoring was established, with the aim of producing staff with timely, better informed and more balanced feedback on the standard of their performance.
	Last year's report described the successful trial of tape reporting. The division now has 10 tape reporters producing work to the high standard demanded of the Department. The ready recruitment of tape reporters from the ranks of Committee transcribers allowed the Department to second three members of staff to the Scottish Parliament to help with the establishment of its official report.
	The Department's ability to fulfil its commitment to the House in respect of the timely production of the daily part is heavily dependent on the efficiency of its staff and the functional reliability of its computer systems. The section has a performance target of processing and transmitting to The Stationery Office's parliamentary data centre the text of Members' speeches three hours after they have been delivered in the Chamber. This rolling deadline is necessary to guarantee overnight production to the required standard. It was met on all occasions. The computer systems have operated reliably under the control of the Department's information technology section, and, with their electronic output, they continue to enable the Department to make a significant contribution to reduced printing costs.
	Last year's report announced the start of the project for the electronic production of the text of written answers. The unit established at 7 Millbank assumed full responsibility for the production process from the print contractors in May 1998. Work is continuing on improving the performance of the computer system, reaching agreement with Government Departments to supply more material in electronic format thus reducing the amount of keying, and improving the audit trail to make it possible to track the progress of questions and answers. An average of more than 92 per cent. of answers were printed in Hansard on the following day. The move to electronic production contributed substantially to the Department's ability to cut its printing bill.
	During the year, the number of pages printed for the Hansard daily part showed an increase of 20.8 per cent. over the previous year, at 20,420, of which 6,298 (30.8 per cent.) were written answers.
(b)	Administration The implementation of the senior management review and the creation of the post of a Deputy Editor in overall control of matters relating to personnel, finance and administration has led to major reorganisation in these areas.
	The SMR team envisaged the Administration section as being much more closely integrated with the work of the Deputy Editor (Personnel, Finance and Administration) and the year has seen this proposal being put into effect.
	Following a process of consultation with those involved, a number of changes have been made, with increased responsibilities being placed upon some personnel.
	Some of the major changes have related to the Department's financial management. Here the emphasis has been on establishing a team that can advise, scrutinise and plan, in line with the increasing responsibilities being placed upon Departments. A revised financial accounting structure is being put in place. A significant effort has been made in preparing for resource accounting and budgeting. A large number of personnel functions have also been assumed. The Staff Inspector is to mount an investigation into the section, when it is hoped that grading anomalies may be resolved.
	The training and health sections of the Department also report to the Deputy Editor (PFA), who continued to chair the House Health and Safety Committee. Reports from those sections are also presented.
(c)	Committee reporting The section met all its performance targets. Subject to the agreed constraints of number and length of sittings, all Standing Committee reports were delivered the following day. There were 222 such sittings during the year, and 127 sittings of Delegated Legislation Committees, which can sit for up to one and a half hours.
	The section produced reports for: 25 Bills, including the evidence-taking sessions for the Immigration and Asylum Bill; 127 instruments of Delegated Legislation; 14 meetings of European Standing Committees; and 20 Grand Committees, which were held in Westminster, Edinburgh and various locations in Wales. The total number of pages typeset was 7,812, an increase of 58 per cent. on the previous year.
	Towards the end of the year, the division demonstrated considerable flexibility in coping with the added burden caused by Standing Committees beginning their sittings at various different times on Thursdays. Such flexibility is a fundamental requirement of the division, given the fluctuating level of Standing Committee activity throughout the year, as shown in the chart.
	In 1999-00 the section's main task will be to develop and implement a Windows-based operating system which will make it possible to supply the data to the print contractor in electronic format, as happens in the House reporting division.
	If the House approves the proposal of the Select Committee on Modernisation, the division will be heavily involved in producing the reports of the parallel Chamber, which is expected to meet in the Grand Committee room off Westminster Hall.
	Fluctuations in Committee work load
(d)	Training The Department's training section seeks, through regular discussion with senior management, to anticipate the replacement of staff wastage thereby ensuring the availability of sufficient staff to enable the Department to meet its obligations to the House. A particular challenge in the year under review was to cover the loss of staff through secondments to the Scottish Parliament and absences on maternity leave.
	At the start of the year, the training section had almost completed a trainee transcriber programme, and by May, with completion of the course, three trainees were appointed to positions as transcribers. A new training programme was begun at the end of November. It was completed just before the Easter recess with a further three trainees being appointed to positions as transcribers. The success of the training programme enabled the appointment of five tape reporters from the transcriber ranks thus ensuring that the House reporting division could operate at full strength.
	The section continued its policy of providing staff with the chance to volunteer for experience of work beyond their normal sphere of responsibility. The practice provides for flexibility in preparing staff for temporary and permanent promotion.
	Staff from all sections of the Department are encouraged to broaden their abilities through attendance at courses covering a range of subjects relevant to their current and future careers. The section arranged for courses to be provided by the Civil Service College, the Industrial Society and by commercial organisations. Internal courses have been provided on annual reporting, management of absence, equal opportunities and disability awareness, VDU health and safety and selection interviewing.
(e)	Information technology The mission of the information technology section continues to reflect three principal areas of responsibility within the operations of the Department. First, the section has acquired a strong capability in systems development. It uses that expertise to apply new technologies to enhance the Department's production processes in the pursuit of reduced operating costs and increased levels of service and efficiency. Secondly, it provides maintenance for the Department's computer systems and networks in order to guarantee the highest levels of availability for the mission-critical tasks that they perform. Finally, it supports the users of those systems both within the Department and end users, ranging from the print contractor to users of the Department's intranet service.
	Apart from routine work, the section's principal concerns during 1998-99 were three key projects.
	The first was the major refurbishment of the Department's main production systems. The result has been a substantial restructuring of the networking infrastructure, moving it to a high quality, industry standard.
	The second major project was to ensure that the Department's systems were millennium-compliant. Work in this complex and crucial area was still under way at the year end after a year in which progress was made in testing and proving elements of the current system and in the development of alternative solutions.
	Finally, other infrastructural elements have been upgraded to ensure the highest standards of performance and availability.
	The Department's business plan envisages the continued and extended application of information technology to a wide range of the Department's activities. The section is committed to ensuring that it is prepared and equipped to play its part in achieving the successful completion of the development programme. Work is already under way on the next major project, the computerisation of the production of text for Standing Committees. Exploratory work on the use of digital audio recording for this project, carried out in the previous year has been built upon and will continue. The section is now ready to move to the next phase of the project, the analysis of the business processes and the production of a working prototype, with the aim of finalising the approach, developing the required software and beginning implementation by the end of the financial year 1999-00.
	Personnel from the section have continued to play an active role in the formulation and implementation of a House-wide convergence strategy.
	The section continues to produce ambitious but achievable development plans for the coming financial year, which includes beginning the movement of its systems on to the agreed strategic technologies.
(f)	Health and safety The health and safety focus of the Department during the year was the major refurbishment of the Reporters' and Sub-editors' accommodation. The Health and Safety Manager worked closely with the architect to ensure that the new working areas met the high standard required and that the most effective use was made of the available space. Particular attention was paid to ventilation and lighting, and new office furniture was designed to accommodate the sub-editing function safely and efficiently.
	An additional requirement of the refurbishment was the further reduction of ambient noise to ensure the safe and comfortable use of headphones. Although audiometric testing in the previous year showed no noise-induced hearing loss, the Department considers it to be of the greatest importance to reduce the risks to the lowest practical level.
	Careful monitoring of VDU users, together with physiotherapy support, has again proved valuable in reducing the risk of keyboard-related injuries. Advice and assistance, based on the Department's experience, have also been given to the staff who will be assisting in the establishment of the reporting section of the Scottish Parliament to help them to minimise the risks of intensive VDU use.
	The Department has continued its full involvement in the House Health and Safety Committee.

Performance measurement

The Department applies a system of performance measurement designed to assess the standards of editorial and typographical accuracy of the various aspects of its publications against agreed criteria. The error rate is based on what are termed "significant errors", which include the mis-spelling of a name, a factual reporting mistake, misattribution of words spoken, and so on. In the House reporting division, the performance target is one significant error per 10 columns of the report. The level achieved was one error per 15 columns, a 25 per cent. improvement on the previous year. In the production of written answers, the target is also one significant error per 10 columns. The level achieved was one in 12.88 columns. In the Committee reporting division, there were 169 significant errors in 11,972 columns of report, which was a significant improvement over the target. All performance targets are under review.

Overseas contacts and support

The Department continued with its policy of seeking to assist and advise Commonwealth Parliaments on the establishment and operation of efficient parliamentary reporting facilities. During the year it accepted a secondment from Botswana and hosted visits from parliamentary officials from various parts of Africa, the Indian sub-continent, Russia, the Caribbean and Taiwan.

Ian Church
Editor



© Parliamentary copyright 1999	Prepared 26 July 1999