Memorandum by the House of Lords Outreach
and Engagement Programme
1. INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this submission is to highlight
some of the key activities and achievements of the outreach and
engagement programme at the House of Lords over the past three
years, and to outline some of the future plans for the programme.
2. BACKGROUND
TO THE
HOUSE OF
LORDS OUTREACH
PROGRAMME
The Lord Speaker was appointed in July 2006
with an explicit remit to lead on public engagement with the House
of Lords, and since this time has played a key role in developing
and championing the outreach programme. In January 2008, a new
post of Head of Outreach was appointed to take forward this work,
developing and implementing a three year outreach strategy that
would be distinct from but complementary to the work of Parliament's
Education Service and the emerging Parliamentary Outreach programme.
3. STRATEGIC
OVERVIEW
The three year outreach and engagement strategy
agreed by the Information Committee in October 2008 outlines how
we plan to connect external audiences with the work and members
of the House of Lords through a programme of outreach visits,
events within parliament, online initiatives and cross-platform
projects. The aims of the programme are to increase public understanding
of the role, work and relevance of the House of Lords; to raise
awareness of how people can interact with the House of Lords;
to increase public engagement with the House of Lords; and to
increase awareness of the broad range of expertise within the
House. The delivery objectives include promoting the principles
of debate and inquiry in the activities we develop, involving
and showcasing the expertise of Members, and working with the
bicameral education and parliamentary outreach services to maximise
the impact of their work for the House of Lords. We target young
people and the democratically active, and also use the press and
media as a communications tool through which to promote engagement
with and understanding of the House of Lords
4. HIGHLIGHTS
OF THE
PROGRAMME TO-DATE
— Since its launch in 2007 nearly 200
Peers in Schools visits have taken place involving 75 peers and
approximately 10,000 students. These visits have covered every
nation and region in the UK, and the programme continues to expand
with new and repeat requests from schools for a visit from a Member
of the House. In addition to these visits to schools, there have
been 44 visits to the regional federations of the Women's Institute,
involving nearly 20,000 women.— In 2007 and 2008, the
chamber of the House of Lords was opened up for the first time
to young people from across the country; firstly for the debating
finals of the English Speaking Union, then for 250 members of
the UK Youth Parliament to debate their campaign priorities for
the year ahead.
— In October 2007 a series of five
lectures was launched in the Robing Room of the House of Lords
to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Life Peerages Act. Following
the success of this series the Lord Speaker hopes to hold a lecture
in association with the Mile End Group on at least an annual basis,
the first of which is being given by Lord Rees of Ludlow in June
2009.
— In 2008, the House of Lords led the
way on Parliament's YouTube channel by producing four videos about
the work of the House and its members. These videos were launched
alongside the highlights of the UKYP event in the chamber, attracting
tens of thousands of views in their first few weeks online.
— In March 2008, Lords of the Blog
was launched as a pilot social engagement initiative for the House
of Lords. The site has since received over 177,000 views and over
4300 user comments, enabling members of the public to engage in
online dialogue and exchange with participating Peers. The House
of Lords also continues to use other online engagement channels
including social networking sites to make connections with the
public.
— The Lord Speaker has personally sponsored
an annual competition for schools every year since her appointment.
In 2008, the winning students of the What a Waste! Competition
visited parliament to present their submissions to the sub-committee
on Waste Reduction. This year's competition about young people's
representation in the media is currently underway, but has already
received more entries than ever before, with the winners due to
meet the Communications Committee in July 2009.
— In October 2008, the first in a pilot
series of seminars for peers and journalists was held in the River
Room. This focused on the global economic crisis, with opening
speeches from Lords Burns, Eatwell, Lawson and Skidelsky. In May
2009, a seminar on the interface of science, policy and ethics
was equally well received. A further seminar is planned in July
with Lords Ashdown, Hurd, Kerr and Robertson on the panel.
— In addition to the activities outlined
above, many Members regularly go out to schools and other organisations,
and welcome visitors to parliament, outwith the formal outreach
and engagement programme. The Information Office provides a wide
range of information materials and resources to support this work
on behalf of the House.
5. MEDIA IMPACT
AND COVERAGE
Generating positive media coverage for the work
of the House is an essential element of the outreach and engagement
strategy. The communications objectives for the programme are:
— To use the press and media as a communications
tool through which to promote engagement with and understanding
of the work of the House of Lords.
— To use outreach and engagement activities
as a hook though which to attract positive media coverage about
the House of Lords.
— To hold events for the media in order
to promote the work of the House and its members and to develop
relationships with journalists.
— To work in partnership with organisations
that have a strong track-record of communicating with and engaging
our target audiences.
— To support schools and other organisations
in generating positive media coverage of outreach visits and activities.
Media coverage of the outreach and engagement
programme enables the House to reach secondary audiences in addition
to the direct participants of our activities. We have worked with
the local media to promote Peers in Schools visits, and were very
successful in generating substantial local and regional media
coverage of the UK Youth Parliament debates in the Chamber.
Local and regional media are an important target
audience as they are usually much more receptive to stories that
involve their readers, and are less driven by the national news
agenda. Studies show that local and regional newspapers are more
trusted by the public, and by targeting these publications we
are showing that the House of Lords is talking to the public on
their terms and in their area.
The Lord Speaker's River Room seminars for Members
and journalists have been very well attended by senior media commentators,
editors and broadcasters, and are serving to raise awareness of
the expertise within the House of Lords with national media opinion-formers.
Online developments such as www.lordsoftheblog.net
and the YouTube videos have been particularly well covered by
the media, particularly online and in the blogosphere.
6. FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
In the Parliamentary Session 2008-09, the Head
of Outreach for the House of Lords is building on successful activities
in previous years whilst also developing new partnerships and
relationships that will enable us to pilot more ways to engage
our target audiences. Evaluating the impact of the programme will
be crucial in order to identify successful activities and mechanisms
for engagement. The People and Parliament inquiry is very welcome,
as it is anticipated that it will provide unique insights into
the ways in which we should and could relate better to the public.
The outcomes of the inquiry and the recommendations from the Information
Committee will inform the strategic development of the outreach
and engagement programme at the House of Lords as it goes forward.
June 2009
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