OUTREACH
29. In October, the Committee endorsed a three-year
strategy and programme for House of Lords outreach and engagement
for 2008-11. The strategy outlines plans to connect external audiences
with Members and the work of the House of Lords through outreach
visits, events within Parliament, online initiatives and cross-platform
projects. In the 2008-09 Session the programme will build on and
develop successful activities such as the Peers in Schools initiative
and the Lord Speaker's competition, whilst also piloting new ways
to engage young people and other target audiences.
30. Our Chairman, Lord Renton of Mount Harry,
is also a member of the Lord Speaker's Outreach Advisory Group,
an informal cross-party group of Members that meets about six
times a year to advise the Lord Speaker on the development and
implementation of the outreach and engagement strategy.
31. The Committee commends Parliament's new YouTube
channel to those Members who have not yet seen it[8]
and welcomes the 'Lords of the Blog' site, developed and hosted
by the Hansard Society.[9]
USE OF THE CHAMBER
32. On 2 May 2008 the Chamber of the House of
Lords was used by Members of the UK Youth Parliament to debate
their campaign priorities for the year ahead. The debates were
chaired by the Lord Speaker and attended by a number of Peers,
MPs, government officials and other guests. The event attracted
over 100 articles in the media and was broadcast on BBC Parliament.
The event was the second pilot event in the Chamber. The first
pilot took place on 12 May 2007 when the Chamber was used for
the English-Speaking Union's Schools Debating Competition.
33. The Committee has since recommended to the
Administration and Works Committee that the Chamber be used for
appropriate events for young people on an annual basis. This decision
was taken on the understanding that the use of the Chamber is
to remain special and occasional (not more than once a year);
that advice will continue to be sought from the Information Committee;
and that a further review of the programme will be undertaken
in 2011.
8 http://uk.youtube.com/ukparliament Back
9
http://www.lordsoftheblog.net/ Back
