Blog

Culture, design and filter bubbles: looking back at #FutureParliament

21 Nov 2016
An architectural blueprint showing six abstract geometric shapes

To mark Parliament Week – a programme of activities connecting people across the UK with the Westminster Parliament – the Hansard Society hosted a half-day event to look at the problems with the legislative process, and how technology might help solve them.

Adam Dyster, Events Manager, Sense4us, Hansard Society
Adam Dyster,
Events Manager, Sense4us, Hansard Society

Get our latest research, insights and events delivered to your inbox

Subscribe to our newsletter

We will never share your data with any third-parties.

Share this and support our work

The latest in our Future Parliament series of research and events, it also looked at how Westminster could best use the rupture of being uprooted from the Palace to drive innovation, including trialing new technology.

Our first panel looked at the current challenges to the legislative process within Parliament, and those areas where technology might be of greatest use, drawing on the Society's involvement in the mutli-national EU funded Sense4us technology research project.

Dr Ruth Fox, Director of the Hansard Society, chaired a discussion with Emma Allen, Director of Digital Development, Parliament Digital Service; Stella Creasy, MP for Walthamstow; and Liam Laurence Smyth, Clerk of Legislation in the House of Commons.

All the panelists raised culture change as a major issue for Parliament and technology - whether encouraging people to get involved with legislation, or moving beyond mass-email point-and-click campaigns.

Education was also a clear factor for both the panelists and audience, helping the public understand both what Parliament does and decoding the language it uses.

With the challenges laid out, it was clear that technology could help improve the process.

With a break for refreshments, the audience was able to learn more about Sense4us, a multi-national technology research project funded by the European Commission to develop new information discovery tools for policy-makers and researchers. The Sense4us toolset includes new tools to support text analysis, social media search and sentiment, linked open data search, and dynamic policy model simulations.

Our second panel looked more closely at the future of Parliament - and the potential opportunities for innovation across the Restoration and Renewal programme.

With MPs and Peers due to move out of the Palace into alternative locations in the Westminster area for a few years, could these temporary new Houses be turned into parliamentary laboratories to trial and test new digital technology?

BBC journalist and technology critic Bill Thompson chaired the discussion with Victoria Boelman, Principal Researcher in Government Innovation, Nesta; Elizabeth Linder, Founder of the Conversational Century; Rebecca Rumbul, Head of Research, mySociety; and Paul Walland, Director of Innovation at the IT Innovation Centre, University of Southampton, and co-ordinator of the Sense4us project.

Regardless of what technologies Parliament might test, the panel was clear that any temporary building presents a chance to be bold and less risk-averse, especially when it comes to space and design.

Closing the event, it was clear that any technological 'solutions' would need to be considered carefully. From online echo chambers to the digital divide, innovation is just one tool at Parliament's disposal.

Sense4us is a project funded from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (contract number 611242)

News / Assisted dying bill: Special series #10 - Parliament Matters podcast, Episode 89

Having cleared detailed scrutiny in a Public Bill Committee, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill faces its next crucial test when it returns to the House of Commons for Report Stage on 16 May. This stage is often where Private Members' Bills falter. Will opponents of Kim Leadbeater’s proposals to legalise assisted dying win enough support to amend the Bill? Can supporters of the Bill fend off attempts to change it? And could the Bill be lost altogether, because of the procedural hurdles that still stand in its way?

29 Apr 2025
Read more

News / Parliament Matters Bulletin: What’s coming up in Parliament this week? 28 April - 2 May 2025

MPs will debate the Football Governance Bill for the first time and consider controversial proposals to give government access to benefit recipients’ bank data in the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill. The Great British Energy Bill faces a further hurdle over modern slavery concerns in solar panel supply chains. Orders on extended VE Day pub hours and banning ‘ninja swords’ will be considered. David Lammy and Shabana Mahmood face committee scrutiny, while Richard Foord seeks to require parliamentary approval for a UK–US trade deal. Mayors Andy Burnham and Kim McGuinness will give evidence on industrial strategy, and Dr Fiona Hill will speak about social mobility and education.

27 Apr 2025
Read more

News / Should Parliament roll out the red carpet for Donald Trump? - Parliament Matters podcast, Episode 88

After Parliament’s rare Saturday sitting to pass the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill with minimal scrutiny, we explore concerns about rushed legislation and unchecked ministerial powers. The Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle faces criticism for allegedly protecting Keir Starmer at PMQs. Meanwhile, as MPs and Peers move to block a possible Trump address to Parliament during his second UK State Visit, we discuss who controls invitations to speak and where on the parliamentary estate.

26 Apr 2025
Read more

Submissions / Evidence to the House of Commons Modernisation Committee: Priorities and strategic aims

In response to the Modernisation Committee's call for views on 17 October 2024, we submitted evidence outlining key areas we believe the Committee should prioritise. Our submission recommended a focus on: strengthening legislative scrutiny, with particular emphasis on reforming the delegated legislation system; enhancing financial scrutiny, especially in relation to the Budget and the Estimates; addressing strategic gaps in parliamentary scrutiny; making more effective use of parliamentary time; and reviewing the Standing Orders, language and rituals of the House of Commons.

01 Apr 2025
Read more

Briefings / The Assisted Dying Bill: A guide to the Private Member's Bill process

This briefing explains what to watch for during the Second Reading debate of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on 29 November. It outlines the procedural and legislative issues that will come into play: the role of the Chair in managing the debate and how procedures such as the 'closure' and 'reasoned amendments' work. It looks ahead to the Committee and Report stage procedures that will apply if the Bill progresses beyond Second Reading. It also examines the government's responsibilities, such as providing a money resolution for the Bill and preparing an Impact Assessment, while addressing broader concerns about the adequacy of Private Members’ Bill procedures for scrutinising controversial issues.

27 Nov 2024
Read more