APPENDIX 3: CALL FOR EVIDENCE
The House of Lords Information Committee is conducting
an inquiry to investigate how the House of Lords, in the context
of Parliament, could relate better to the public.
The inquiry has two aims:
- to evaluate progress made since the reports of
the House of Commons Modernisation Committee (Connecting Parliament
with the public, June 2004), the 'Puttnam Commission' (Members
Only? Parliament in the Public Eye, Hansard Society Commission,
May 2005), and the consequent first business plan of Parliament's
Group on Information for the Public (2006); and
- to consider improvements to how the House of
Lords / Parliament can engage with the public and enable members
of the public to communicate with it.
The Committee's inquiry will focus on three issues,
on which it is inviting written submissions:
(1) outreach;
(2) online communication and engagement, including
www.parliament.uk
and channels such as social media sites; and
(3) press, media and broadcasting.
The Committee would, in particular, welcome responses
to the following questions:
Outreach
What more could be done to enhance the effectiveness
of the outreach work of the House of Lords / Parliament?
What outreach activities would be most successful
in engaging people with the work and Members of the House of Lords?
What are the strengths of the outreach programmes
of the House of Lords/Parliament?
Is there anything we should be doing differently?
The Parliamentary outreach service launched its programme
of regional workshops and information sessions in July 2008. What
has been the impact of this new service? As Parliament's outreach
programme expands, are there any additional activities that you
think should be considered? Where or by what can the service most
add value?
Are there sufficient routes for the public to make
their views known to Members of the House of Lords?
Online communication and engagement
Over the past four years, Parliament has made considerable
investment in the use of online communication channels, including
the parliamentary website and social media tools. The wesite has
been redesigned, services such as bills online have been enhanced,
and other new services like Twitter and Flickr have been introduced
alongside initiatives like www.lordsoftheblog.net.
What has worked well and enabled better engagement
between Parliament and the public?
What else should we be doing to deliver further improvements?
How would you like to be able to interact online
with Members of the House?
What more should the House of Lords / Parliament
do to embrace social media and Web 2.0 technologies?
Press
How can we best encourage media reporting of the
work of the House of Lords?
What does the press and media need from the House
to support a goal of fuller coverage of its work?
What measures could the House take to help journalists
to report the work of the House in a fresh and engaging fashion?
Is there demand for a formal induction about the
House of Lords for journalists joining the press gallery?
Is there demand for further easing of restrictions
on the number of parliamentary passes for media outlets?
Is there demand for the House of Lords to provide
a 24-hour media service? How is such an operation provided in
comparable organisations?
Broadcasting
What has been the effect of changes to the rules
of coverage on broadcasting proceedings of the House?
What has been the effect of changes to the rules
on filming within the precincts of Parliament?
How could the House of Lords work with broadcasters
to make footage of parliamentary proceeding more accessible and
engaging for the public?
What do broadcasters need from the House to support
a goal of fuller coverage of its work?
What has been the effect of the expansion of webcasting?
Should the House be contextualising coverage of its
proceedings on the web (e.g. by providing further information
on the Member speaking and the subject of the debate)?
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