Introduction
1. The Information Committee exists to consider
information services provided for the House.[1]
Previous reports from the Committee have generally concentrated
upon the provision of computer hardware and IT networks to those
who work in the House. This emphasis on the development of an
efficient parliamentary information and communication infrastructure
has been—and will continue to be—the backbone of our
work. The vast majority of Members rely heavily on IT services
provided by the House to carry out their work effectively.
2. However, this Report, our first of this Parliament,
looks both at the parliamentary information and communication
infrastructure as well as a much wider issue. There is concern
amongst the public—and indeed amongst Members—that
the House appears remote, that it does not respond as well as
it might to the public, and that it could do more to hold the
executive to account. Public perceptions and expectations of Parliament
appear to be changing and there is authoritative evidence to indicate
that public participation in the political process appears to
be in decline.[2] When
the public does engage with Parliament, its perception of it is
most commonly formed from a distance, via correspondence and reports
of proceedings. Other committees of this House have looked into
this issue, notably the Public Administration Committee.[3]
The Leader of the House, in his capacity as Chairman of the Select
Committee on Modernisation of the House of Commons, has said that
"modernisation is about enabling MPs to do a more effective
job for their constituency and for the country" and that
"the test of [modernisation's] success must be whether it
increases the esteem of the public for their Parliament".[4]
3. Information and Communications Technologies (ICT)
can play an important role in influencing perceptions and helping
to meet public expectations. Indeed, they cannot be ignored. The
arrival of the Internet as a mass public network is already having
a profound effect on the work of Members. Technologies are developing
constantly, in particular, the expansion of Digital Television
through its three platforms and mobile telephony will increasingly
lead people to shop, bank, learn and communicate with one another
online, and Members can expect the nature of their work to change
significantly over the coming years. With guidance, they can derive
benefit from ICT in organising their work more efficiently and
maintaining better communications with constituents. It is important
that these opportunities are grasped so that the role and reputation
of Parliament can be enhanced; otherwise Parliament will be open
to criticism that it is falling behind other Parliaments worldwide
(and devolved parliamentary bodies closer to home) in their efforts
to improve contact between the public and their elected representatives.
4. The purpose of this Report is to identify those
areas where the House can assist Members in meeting public expectations.
Our recommendations are addressed to the House of Commons Commission
and to the Committee on the Modernisation of the House, as well
as to the House Administration in general; but we hope that other
Committees concerned with the workings of the House as well as
members of the public, including those who are concerned with
the development of e-democracy, will find the Report of interest.
Course of the inquiry
5. In order to examine these issues, we took
evidence from a wide range of sources. These included:
— Members of the House, each of whom
received a letter from the Committee Chairman inviting comment
on a range of issues;
— Members and staff of the Scottish Parliament
in Edinburgh, which the Committee visited at an early stage of
the inquiry;
— Reg Alcock, a Member of the Canadian
House of Commons, with whom the Committee held a video conference;
— the National Forum for the Internet and
Democracy, with whom the Committee held a joint seminar;
— representatives of YouGov.com, UpMyStreet,
the BBC, British Telecom and others; and
— participants in an online forum set up
specially for the inquiry.
Much of this evidence is printed as annexes or as
Appendices to the Report. We have also been greatly assisted by
Dr Stephen Coleman,[5]
whom we appointed as a Specialist Adviser for this inquiry.
1 Standing Orders of the House of Commons,
HC 825 (Session 2001-02). Back
2
Voter engagement and young people, Research report, Electoral
Commission, July 2002; See also Young People and Citizenship,
paper presented by Professor Robert Worcester to the ATL Conference,
March 2002, www.mori.com/pubinfo/pdf/rmw-citizen.pdf. Back
3
Public Participation: Issues and Innovations, Sixth Report
of the Public Administration Committee, HC 373 (Session 2000-01). Back
4
Modernisation of the House of Commons: a Reform Programme
for Consultation, memorandum by the Leader of the House of
Commons to the Select Committee on Modernisation of the House
of Commons, HC 440 (Session 2001-02). Back
5
Director of the Hansard Society e-democracy programme. Back
