Select Committee on Administration Second Special Report

RESPONSE

Committee Recommendation 1

We trust that lessons will be learned from the 2005 election to enable offices to be allocated to Members more quickly in the future. We recommend that the political parties and House of Commons Service should aim to provide all Members with permanent office accommodation within a month of a general election. (Paragraph 13)

1. We agree and this remains the House of Commons Service's intention. Discussions following the 2005 election to achieve a more even split of the available accommodation delayed this by about three weeks (see Ev 23, paragraph 11). The major issue was an attempt to achieve a more equitable split by moving a number of returning Members to new offices. This proved difficult and time consuming. Should the Whips wish to rebalance the accommodation at any future election, any advice offered by officials will focus on achieving this aim while minimising the number of moves of incumbent Members.

Committee Recommendation 2

Lessons need to be learnt to ensure that the provision of IT and telecommunications equipment and support dovetail as neatly as possible with that of office accommodation. (Paragraph 14)

2. The objective of the House Service must be to move a new Member into an office that is properly set up to allow that Member to begin productive work immediately. Experience shows that moving Members and their staff into offices which are not fully configured only leads to frustration on the part of the occupant and extra pressure and disruption for the staff engaged in setting up offices.

3. The House Service has learnt lessons about the delivery and support of IT equipment to new Members. It is essential that those providing IT equipment and support should be familiar with Members and their requirements. This means that any planned change to the contract for the delivery of Members' IT should be timed to avoid periods when an election is likely; but there must also be contingency plans to allow the existing contract to continue in the event of an unexpected election.

4. One significant cause of frustration and delay is when a new Member moves into their permanent accommodation only to find that the layout and equipment of that office does not meet their expectations. In order to prevent this in future, furniture, telephone and IT requirements will, whenever possible, be fully discussed and agreed in advance with incoming occupants.

Committee Recommendation 3

We recommend that the House Service should come back to us with recommended costed options for:

i.  ensuring that places to work can be made available after an election for up to 150 new Members awaiting an office, together with sufficient fax and printing facilities, either within the space already provided for temporary accommodation, or by increasing the space available;

ii.  ensuring that for an initial period of weeks new Members have adequate priority access to spaces which are sufficiently private to be used for confidential meetings with constituents and others; and

iii.  lockable storage space for new Members close to their workstations. (Paragraph 20)

5. We could implement the Committee's recommendation for temporary work spaces for up to 150 new Members following a General Election by using the rooms on the Upper Committee Corridor as follows:

Area	No of Work Stations	No of Adjacent Lockers	Approximate Cost
Committee Room 17	15	30	£7k
Committee Room 18	13	30	£6k
Committee Room 19	12	30	£6k
Committee Room 20	13	30	£6k
Committee Room 21	15	30	£7k
Total	68	150	£32k

Note: The cost is for a period of 2 months hire. Costs of labour and cabling are in the order of £10k.

6. This arrangement provides 68 workstations and 150 lockers for laptops and papers. Experience in 2005 shows that 68 desks will be sufficient; it is most unlikely that even half of the new Members would wish to use desks at any one time. Individual storage for 150 Members is provided adjacent to these rooms. In addition we intend to provide drop-in spaces for Members to work from in the Chess Room, House of Commons Library and the e-Library. The demand for temporary workspaces will be further reduced once wireless networking facilities have been installed in public areas (see paragraph 11).

7. Fax and printing facilities are provided as recommended.

8. The best method of providing computing in temporary accommodation has still to be settled. If an election were to be called in the next few months, it is likely that PICT would have to provide networked PCs at temporary workstations. We recognise that there are advantages in providing new Members with wireless network access (either for their own portable equipment to access the internet or with the laptops provided by the House to access the Parliamentary Network (PN)) and plans for providing wireless access are outlined in paragraph 11. Wireless access would remove the need to cable temporary accommodation for PN access and printing.

9. The Committee also recommended that, during the initial period of weeks, new Members should have priority access to spaces which are suitable for private meetings with constituents. There are insufficient Committee and meeting rooms to allow any of these to be dedicated in this way without impacting on all Members. However, there are a number of less desirable windowless Members' rooms in the Upper Committee Corridor which might be made available for new Members' private meetings. A booking system would need to be used to control allocations. In future, we will include a list of available meeting rooms across the Parliamentary Estate in welcome packs; such rooms could be included as part of a guided tour for new Members.

Committee Recommendation 4

Speeding up the allocation of offices and providing adequate temporary accommodation is a better solution to new Members' accommodation needs than allocating them vacant offices on a temporary basis. (Paragraph 23)

10. We agree.

Committee Recommendations 5 and 6

The IT infrastructure and equipment currently provided on the Parliamentary Estate are simply not suited to a mobile Member without an office. For many new Members, adequate wireless Internet access would have made working without an office much more manageable. (Paragraph 25)

We recommend that wireless Internet access should be provided in those areas likely to be of most use to Members: the atrium of Portcullis House, the Library and the new Members' temporary accommodation areas, and that a way should be found of securely providing wireless functionality on centrally supplied laptop computers. (Paragraph 26)

11. Work is already under way to provide wireless access to the Parliamentary Network whilst using Parliamentary equipment. This service will be made available in the locations suggested in the Report in due course and in advance of the next election. PICT is investigating direct wireless access to the internet that would enable Members, and others, to use their own wireless enabled equipment. We are aware that mobile phone reception is poor in certain areas of the House, in particular certain floors and corners of Portcullis House. A survey has been conducted to identify these areas and the major carriers are being asked to provide costed proposals for improvement. If reception is improved this would include improving 3G coverage that would offer a further means of external connection for those Members wishing to use this method of wireless access.

Committee Recommendation 7

We recommend that the House Administration should assess demand for increased voicemail message capacity to see if it would be worth the additional expense. (Paragraph 27)

12. Consultation with representatives of the Secretaries' and Assistants' Council has confirmed that there is demand for larger voicemail boxes as noted in the Report. This service is to be re-tendered very soon and therefore costed options increasing capacity will be sought from the potential suppliers. Progress on this recommendation does not depend on the next election and a solution will be applied as soon as the tendering exercise is complete.

Committee Recommendation 8

The House Administration should investigate ways of making the information of most use and interest to new Members easily available to be digested in Members' own time, on paper, on the Parliamentary Intranet, or, cost permitting, on DVD. (Paragraph 30)

13. The House Service agrees and this is being investigated.

Committee Recommendation 9

We commend the House Administration and the party whips for their co-ordinated approach to the reception of new Members and trust that this success will be sustained and built upon. (Paragraph 32)

14. We are grateful to the Committee. The House Service plans to discuss this issue with party whips before the next election with the aim of adopting a fully co-ordinated approach to new Members reception. This will allow co-ordinated, simple information on all reception arrangements to be provided to newly elected Members.

Committee Recommendation 10

It is the task of the House Administration to assist those Members who lose their seats at a general election to carry out the necessary business of ceasing to be a Member as sensitively, quickly and painlessly as possible. (Paragraph 34)

15. We agree; this is our aim.

Committee Recommendations 11 and 12

The House Service needs to treat those who lose their seats at a general election with dignity, and to inculcate among staff a sensitivity to their situation. (Paragraph 36)

The House Service should consider nominating a senior member of staff to ensure that those who have lost their seats are given sensitive and proactive assistance and guidance during the week immediately following a general election. (Paragraph 37)

16. The House accepts the need for senior involvement in ensuring that Members who have lost their seats are properly looked after in the aftermath of the election and will pursue this as the Committee suggests.

Committee Recommendation 13

Clear communications to security and other staff immediately before and immediately after polling day would help to ensure that all defeated Members are able to access and clear their offices as smoothly and swiftly as possible. (Paragraph 40)

17. All former Members' passes will be re-enabled on the day after Polling Day, along with those of returning Members. Instructions will be issued to security and other staff at the next election to ensure that access by former Members is treated sensitively.

Committee Recommendation 14

We recommend that the House Service should investigate whether defeated Members could be allowed longer than a week after polling day in which to clear their offices without delaying the allocation of accommodation to serving Members. (Paragraph 42)

18. Extending the current week will inevitably delay the availability of those offices for new Members. Given the Committee's view that a priority must be to have all new Members in their permanent accommodation within one month of the election, it is not practicable to allow a general extension. However, it is usually possible to accommodate individual special cases and the House Service will continue do its best to do so.

Committee Recommendation 15

We recommend that defeated Members should be given access to a telephone line for both outgoing and incoming calls for the whole of the time that they are permitted to clear their offices. (Paragraph 44)

19. This is what the House Service aimed to achieve in 2005 and plans to achieve following future elections.

Committee Recommendation 16

An e-mail automatic response service for former Members should be provided as a matter of course in future for a period of several months after a general election. (Paragraph 45)

20. We propose that, for three months after an election, any e-mail sent to a former Member will receive an automatic reply. This reply will include new contact details where these have been provided by the former Member. We also propose to offer a similar service though the Operators Bureau for calls to former Members.

Committee Recommendation 17

The Administration should investigate whether former Members might be offered the option of extending the mail forwarding service they currently receive. (Paragraph 46)

21. Royal Mail currently provides a redirection service to Members for personal mail for three months from the date of the election. This is free of charge to the former Member. This service can be extended at a charge, currently £14.55 for each three month period. This would be a legitimate expense against the winding up allowance for the first three month extension.

Committee Recommendation 18

We welcome the fact that for the first time comprehensive guidance on finances for Members standing down or defeated at a general election was produced in a single accessible document. It is important, however, that in future the guidance should be reviewed and signed off well in advance of the expected date of any general election. (Paragraph 48)

22. The House Service strongly endorses the conclusion that the financial guidance should be reviewed and signed-off well in advance of the expected date of a general election. The Advisory Panel on Members' Allowances has asked to see revised guidance in summer 2007. This timetable would mean that the guidance could be approved by the Members Estimate Committee in late 2007 and be ready for promulgation to Members in early 2008.

Committee Recommendation 19

It may be desirable to simplify the arrangements and guidance for the redundancy of former Members' staff. This is a matter on which we would welcome advice from the Advisory Panel on Members' Allowances. (Paragraph 49)

23. The Advisory Panel on Members' Allowances has noted this invitation to consider simplification of the arrangements and guidance for the redundancy of former Members' staff. It intends to consider this issue in due course and to report its views as appropriate to the Members Estimate Committee and the Administration Committee.

Committee Recommendation 20

We invite the Advisory Panel on Members' Allowances to seek to identify those circumstances in which the House Administration might make payments above a certain value direct to suppliers where costs have been necessarily incurred by former Members, and those circumstances in which the Administration should continue to insist on former Members paying before seeking reimbursement from the House. (Paragraph 51)

24. The Advisory Panel on Members' Allowances has noted this invitation to consider the issue of regularising the practice of direct payment by the House Administration of costs necessarily incurred by former Members rather than relying on subsequent reimbursement of former Members. It intends to consider this issue in due course and to report its views as appropriate to the Members Estimate Committee and the Administration Committee.

Committee Recommendation 21

The provision of central written guidance and a telephone advice point for Members' staff facing redundancy would be a welcome and sensible development. (Paragraph 54)

25. Members themselves have the principal responsibility for helping their staff facing redundancy. However, the House could supplement this with basic support and materials. The Department of Finance and Administration manages a contract with a third party supplier, WWP, for training for Members' staff. WWP offered a series of courses following the election on CV writing and other skills which would assist job searching. Take-up was low and the House Service will review its approach to marketing these courses in good time for the next election.

26. Immediately after the election, Members who were defeated were sent an information pack about their responsibilities and the allowances available to them to discharge their remaining duties and on leaving the House. We accept that Members' staff would have welcomed some basic advice about their employment position from the House at the same time. We will have information available for staff in this position at the next election.

27. The House's main responsibility is to give advice to former Members as the employer of staff. A telephone advice line was available to former Members for this purpose. If a similar service were to be offered to Members' staff, the House could find itself in the impossible position of advising both sides of, say, an employment dispute. However, it ought to be possible to provide through basic factual information to Members' staff in the aftermath of the election through a single telephone point or via the working for an MP website. Many Members' staff belong to the staff association or a trade union. We will work with these representative organisations to ensure that where sensitive or confidential advice was needed this was available from the right source.

Committee Recommendation 22

The current situation, in which most former Members have no greater access rights to the Parliamentary Estate than the general public, fails in our view to recognise their service appropriately. We recommend to Mr Speaker and to the House that consideration should be given to granting all former Members eligibility for a parliamentary pass, whether a long-term pass or an unescorted day pass, on the understanding that this access should not be used for business or political purposes. Further consideration also needs to be given to the range of access such a pass should allow. (Paragraph 60)

28. Following further consideration by the Committee, Mr Speaker has agreed that passes will be offered to those former Members who have served more than one full parliamentary term, and to those who have served one full parliamentary term and have been defeated at a General Election, subject in every case to the exercise of his discretion.

Committee Recommendation 23

Elections are unpredictable in their timing and their outcome both for the Administration and for the individual Member. In such circumstances, the Administration cannot be expected to get everything right for everyone all of the time. Planning is already carried out before an election to minimise the risk of things going wrong, but the planning could be more thorough and more timely. We hope that the issues we have raised in this Report will be looked at again after the next election to ensure that lessons have indeed been learned. (Paragraph 61)

Committee Recommendation 24

All necessary guidance for Members who lose their seats or who intend to stand down, and the related working instructions for House staff, should be agreed and made available as soon as possible, by Easter 2007 at the very latest, and regularly updated. (Paragraph 62)

29. The House Service will provide an indicative draft in order to meet this recommendation as far as is possible. The full policy review of finances for Members standing down or defeated is being conducted to meet the timescales required by the Advisory Panel on Members' Allowances and final guidance on this area will not, therefore, be available for promulgation until early 2008 (see paragraph 22). The existing guidance is nonetheless suitable for use should an early election be called. It would be made available to Members quickly both in hard-copy and on the Parliamentary intranet.

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Prepared 28 April 2006