1 Induction for new MPs
1. At the 2010 general election 227 new Members
of Parliament were elected.[1]
This represented more than a third of the House—the biggest
turnover of departing and new Members since 1997. It had become
clear in the months before the election that there was likely
to be an unusually large number of changes; the House of Commons
Service had also been reviewing and planning induction arrangements
and activities for new Members since 2005. This Report comments
on what was done for newly arriving Members after the 2010 election
and sets out some principles for the House Service, the Parliamentary
Information and Communications Technology department, the House
of Commons Members Estimate Committee, the Accommodation Whips
of the major parties and the Independent Parliamentary Standards
Authority (IPSA) to follow when the next election takes place.
2. The House Service created a General Election
Planning Group to ensure that the transition in 2010 was as smooth
as possible. This Group is now planning for the next election.
We recommend that members
of the Administration Committee should be actively involved in
the planning for the election—perhaps as part of the General
Election Planning Group. We would also expect that the Whips be
engaged by the House Service in planning as soon as possible.
We shall seek regular updates on the
work of the Group between now and the expected election date of
May 2015. In particular we will take evidence in May 2014, one
year before the election, to check that our recommendations are
being responded to and that plans for the provision of services
to new Members after the 2015 general election are well advanced.
Newly elected Members
3. The House Service made considerable efforts
in 2010 to ensure that newly elected Members were able quickly
and easily to arrive at Westminster. Each returning officer had
been asked to give the successful candidate an information pack
on election night itself. This included a letter from the Clerk
of the House of Commons, a letter from IPSA, a New Members' Guide
and a form asking for essential personal information. There were
also maps of the large and complex parliamentary Estate and instructions
on how to get to the New Members' Reception Area (NMRA) where
essential documents and information would be made available on
arrival at Westminster. This
information pack received by winning candidates on election night
was a new idea, and was generally found useful by Members. It
is welcome that this approach is to be repeated.
A number of Members have told us, however, that the election pack
did not reach them on election night: one Member suggested that
all candidates be contacted before the election, a task which
would carry considerable costs and complexities given that there
were over 4,150 candidates at the 2010 election.[2]
4. We recommend that the
House Service agrees to report to us by May 2014 on what steps
are being taken to ensure that all returning officers hand a welcome
pack to newly elected Members on election night. We also ask it
to consider other methods of delivery and to assess the cost versus
the benefit of such methods: for example placing it online or
providing a simpler substitute for the New Members Guide.
Arrival at Westminster
5. The NMRA set up in Portcullis House meant
that new arrivals were able within a few minutes to obtain a security
pass, car parking details, a parliamentary email address, a laptop
and the key to a locker where papers and belongings could be stored.
We were told by the Chair of the House's General Election Planning
Group in May 2011 that 82% of new MPs were satisfied or better
with their overall welcome, and 96% of them with the NMRA. The
Hansard Society, which conducted in-depth research among new MPs,
also recorded that 90% of respondents were 'very' or 'fairly'
satisfied with the welcome and orientation provided.[3]
The NMRA will be repeated in 2015. Plans for it should be scalable
so that it is proportionate to the number of new Members entering
the House in 2015. The
House Service is to be commended for the detailed planning and
efficient work that made arrival at Westminster a relatively smooth
experience for 227 new MPs in May 2010.
Sources of dissatisfaction
6. Dissatisfaction did arise from new MPs' initial
experience of the role, but this focused largely on two areas
outside the immediate control of the House Service. First, and
not for the first time, there was considerable dissatisfaction
among new arrivals at the length of time it took before they had
an office to call their own.[4]
Responsibility for the allocation of office space to MPs, both
those returning and newcomers, lies with the Accommodation Whips
of the main political parties. Secondly, there was considerable
dissatisfaction among new MPs about the induction arrangements
provided by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
(IPSA). As Matt Korris, Senior Researcher at the Hansard Society,
told us, Members elected in 2010 had few complaints about the
mechanics of their induction but found that issues such as the
absence of an office and difficulties with cash flow to staff
and equip a brand new office made it hard for them to hit the
ground running in the first weeks after the General Election.[5]
1 In addition to 227 completely new Members there were
five Members who returned to Parliament who had previously been
elected but who had lost their seats at the 1997 or 2005 elections.
Back
2
Ev 46 [Kate Green MP; Nicky Morgan MP], Ev 48 [Paul Blomfield
MP] Back
3
Ruth Fox and Matt Korris, A Fresh Start? The Orientation
and Induction of new MPs at Westminster following the 2010 General
Election, Parliamentary Affairs (2012), No. 65, p. 568 Back
4
Administration Committee, First report of Session 2005-06, Post-election
services, HC 777, para 8 Back
5
Notes of discussion, 28 January 2013 http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/administration-committee/formal-minutes/session-2012-13/ Back
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