Hansard Society eNewsletter - September 2009

A Speech by The Speaker
Parliamentary Reform: the route from here to there
Thursday September 24, 5pm, Attlee Suite, Portcullis House
The Speaker of the House of Commons Rt Hon John Bercow MP will give a speech on parliamentary reform, chaired by Peter Riddell, Chair of the Hansard Society, followed by Q&A.
Click here to register for this event


New Co-Presidents
Rt Hon John Bercow MP & Rt Hon Baroness Hayman
The Hansard Society for the first time has Co-Presidents. Recognising the importance of our work with both Houses of Parliament we are delighted to welcome Rt Hon John Bercow MP, Speaker of the House of Commons and Rt Hon Baroness Hayman, the Lord Speaker as our Co-Presidents. The Hansard Society aims to strengthen parliamentary democracy and encourage greater public involvement in politics and we look forward to working with both the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lord Speaker to achieve these aims.
Read the messages from our Co-Presidents

Timetabling of Business
Evidence to the Procedure Committee
The Parliament & Government Programme has submitted evidence to the Procedure Committee inquiry on the timetabling of business in the House of Commons. We argue that there is a pressing need to reform timetabling and the use of programme motions to rebalance scrutiny in favour of Parliament. Read our recommendations here

HeadsUp
Climate Change September 28 - October 16
The new HeadsUp forums for 2009/2010 start on September 28with the very topical subject of Climate Change, in collaboration with the Department for Energy and Climate Change. This forum will be fed into the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change by Joan Ruddick MP (Minister of State, DECC) making sure young people's views are highlighted in the democratic process on this very important subject.

Please pass this on to any teachers or young people who will be interested. On the website there is a detailed guide to using HeadsUp and curriculum links for teachers; anyone can read the posts on the forum without registering.

Listen again
Has Devolution delivered for Women?
You can listen to the audio from this event in the Scottish Parliament, which took place in August as part of the Festival of Politics. The discussion was interesting and the views varied.