| Graduate appointments in Parliament | Part II |
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Experiences of recent recruits Department of the Clerk of the House of Commons |  |
Steven MarkI joined the Department in October 1998, having worked in a number of fields, mainly publishing and journalism, since I graduated with a languages degree in 1995. One of the main attractions of the Clerk's Department for me was that it promised the sort of variety that I had enjoyed when working freelance. Most new clerks' first job is as a second clerk on a departmental select committee. However, I was given a procedural post, working in the Journal Office. I had no idea of what to expect from parliamentary procedure, other than that it sounded faintly dreadful. My fears, luckily, were ill-founded: procedure encompasses the rules under which Parliament operates and, while it can often be obscure, it is also a fascinating mix of logic, precedent, politics and imaginative problem-solving. Only now after several months am I starting to have some notion of how the various rules interlink, and the purpose of proceedings which can sometimes seem archaic. The Journal Office, as the keeper of the House's official record of proceedings, is effectively the procedural hub of the Department, and is an ideal vantage point for learning how the House operates as a whole. I have certain core responsibilities, notably petitions and papers presented to Parliament— however, much of my work extends far beyond this and has ranged from detailed procedural research on more or less obscure topics, be it fines imposed by the House in the sixteenth century or debates in times of war, to precedents for the day's business required by the Clerks who are sitting in the Chamber providing procedural advice to the Chair and Members within fifteen minutes. Within my first few months, I gave advice to the Scottish Parliament and new Northern Ireland Assembly as they were being set up and attended the High Court when a Member of Parliament was in danger of losing her seat because of an ambiguity in the law. My post also brings with it a weekly night duty, which provides a fascinating opportunity to see the House at work, to write the record of its proceedings as they occur, to meet senior colleagues and Members of Parliament and to take advantage of the Palace of Westminster's excellent dining facilities. The House now only occasionally meets into the early hours of the morning, and the excitement of those rare late night sittings has so far outweighed the exhaustion. I have also worked with a number of committees: notably the Procedure Committee, which has recently looked at the consequences of devolution for the United Kingdom Parliament, and the Ecclesiastical Committee, which considers proposed Church of England laws, including recently a controversial measure concerning churchwardens which culminated in a heated meeting with the Archbishop of York. I also occasionally clerk Standing Committees on Delegated Legislation, at which matters such as the social security tribunals appeals system, school admissions practice and certain international immunities have been debated, and once or twice I have acted as second clerk of the Standards and Privileges Committee, a particularly delicate job as the Committee considers the conduct of individual Members against whom complaints have been made and recommends if and how they should be penalised. Select Committee work is very different from procedural work: much of the clerks' time is spent ensuring that the committee can operate smoothly: preparing papers; drafting reports; organising evidence sessions; and ensuring that the committee is sufficiently briefed. The contact with Members of Parliament is also very different: in the Journal Office, we have fairly cursory dealings with a wide cross-section of the House; a clerk of a select committee will be constantly in contact with the members of that Committee, and come to know them very well, but will only rarely come across other MPs. Select committees often travel, and this too is organised by the clerks and other committee staff. Even the Procedure Committee recently visited Spain, its first overseas visit for many years. As well as committee visits, most clerks enjoy a brief secondment once a year to various international assemblies. In April I spent several days in Brussels, working as a summary-writer for the Inter-Parliamentary Union. There are numerous opportunities for training within the Department. I have attended courses at the Civil Service College, as well as in-house programmes. Some members of the Department have taken courses in various languages and financial support has sometimes been available for post-graduate study in various areas, not necessarily closely work-related. The atmosphere in the Department is extremely supportive, and counterbalances the stresses which can come with the responsibilities. Flexibility is crucial, as, particularly in the Journal Office, no-one is ever sure what is going to be required of them from hour to hour, let alone from day to day. For the same reason, team spirit is strong, and if work needs to be done urgently, everyone who can will lend a hand. I have greatly enjoyed my work so far, and am looking forward to the very different challenges of working on a select committee, when I move to the Committee Office in just over a year. |
 
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| © Parliamentary copyright 1999 | Revised 25 October 1999 |