Administration CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by Members and Peers Staff Association (MAPSA)
At the request of the Administration Committee MAPSA asked its members for their feedback on the arrangements put in place for new Members of Parliament following the 2010 General Election.
Below is a selection of the responses we received.
From a Constituency Caseworker who has been with her Member since May 2010:
It was not until December, so three months after I arrived, that I managed to get to the House of Commons where I received my “How to Work for an MP” books. It would have been so helpful to have had these from day one as they start with what you should do during the first week, etc. It turned out that we were running our surgeries totally illegally but hey ho, we got by and I soon sorted it all out, but it was not easy.
I think there should be someone who runs “How to be a caseworker” courses or be on the end of a telephone to help when a new caseworker with a new MP starts work. It is very difficult when you have a new MP with not a clue about how things work and a new caseworker as well.
I deal with literally life and death issues and a lot of not life and death things like “can you get me a bus timetable please” as well as getting benefits paid in twenty minutes and being a caseworker is an important job if done properly, we can really make a difference to people’s lives.
Something should really be done to help new caseworkers to do their jobs properly from day one, not wing it for a few months.
From a Secretary who has been in the House for a Number of Years and seen many new Members come and go:
They arrive “bright-eyed and bushy-tailed” and then are confronted by two miles of corridors and a 1,000 rooms in the main building. I think they should be given a guided tour but not of just the main bits but “behind the scenes”.
From a Secretary to a New Member:
I was with a new Member and we were supposed to be “hot-desking” in Committee Room 18 for over a month, clearing everything into small lockers. Provision needs to be made for people to have proper space where they can leave things overnight, only locking away confidential papers. Rows were breaking out when some of us were trying to run a vaguely professional operation for constituents, without even dedicated phone lines.
From a Researcher to a New Member:
There was no IPSA training for staff when I started. I know IPSA had only just come into being in 2010 but training for staff was really essential. Most MPs don’t do their own claims—most nominate a proxy.
Offices/desks for staff—there seems to be a total lack of thought regarding this. MPs are able to badger whoever is responsible but they forget about their staff. If the staff have nowhere to operate from how are they supposed to make arrangements for IT amongst other things.
There is a total lack of co-ordination all round regarding staff training and where they work from.
From a Parliamentary Assistant to a New MP:
I thought that the provision for staff and Members was very good and the Attlee Suite in particular was well set up. Part of the reason I thought the set up was good, is that there was plenty of time for Members and their staff to settle in—and indeed to hire staff—because the coalition agreement was being negotiated. I suspect it would not have been so good if we had gone straight into the Parliament.
Many of the responses received by MAPSA made the same points regarding the provision of space although MAPSA appreciates that various factors in the run up to the 2010 General Election resulted in an unusually large intake of new MPs and that many of the problems cited by staff were in fact a result of this.
No comments were received regarding the provision of IT and I think the general feeling was that PICT, although under enormous pressure, coped well with the demands placed on them by such a large intake of MPs and staff.
13 March 2013