From finance to healthcare, technology has transformed the way we live, work and play, with innovative solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges. Can it also have a role in how we make our laws?
Emma AllenDirector of Digital Development, Parliamentary Digital Service and former Head of Web Development, The National Archives.
Victoria BoelmanPrincipal Researcher in Government Innovation, Nesta and former Head of Research,The Young Foundation.
Stella Creasy MPLabour & Co-op MP for Walthamstow, Member of the Science and Technology Select Committee.
Dr Ruth FoxDirector and Head of Research, Hansard Society.
Elizabeth LinderFounder and CEO of The Conversational Century and former Government and Politics Specialist, Facebook.
Liam Laurence SmythClerk of Legislation, House of Commons and former Acting Director, Chamber Business, House of Commons.
Rebecca RumbulHead of Research, mySociety, and awarded best paper at the 2016 Conference for eDemocracy and Open Government.
Bill ThompsonPartnership Lead, Make it Digital, BBC and freelance journalist, commentator and technology critic.
Paul WallandInnovation Director at IT Innovation Centre, University of Southampton.
The proposed refurbishment of the Palace of Westminster after 2020 presents a rare one in 150 year opportunity for reform of the principal institution of our democracy.
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 to support the legislative and scrutiny process?
Recent innovations, for example in relation to data science and social media analysis, potentially offer new opportunities for Parliament to engage with the public, collect and analyse greater amounts of data and reach out to stakeholders beyond the ‘usual suspects’.
But such developments also pose new challenges, not least in relation to privacy and security, training, infrastructure and accessibility. This event will explore the problems in the legislative process – e.g. time, speed, resources, access to expert knowledge, scrutiny capacity – and how new technological developments might help solve them.
Bringing together experts from Parliament and the technology sectors we will explore how Westminster could utilise the rupture of being uprooted from the Palace to drive innovation in the legislative process.
2.00pm: Open
2.30pm: Session 1 - Capacity, Scrutiny and Engagement: Challenges and Opportunities
4.00pm: Break
4.30pm: Session 2 - Parliament as an Innovation Lab: Restoration and Renewal... and Beyond
6.00pm: Drinks reception
This event forms part of the Hansard Society's work on Sense4Us, a multi-national technology research project funded by the European Union.
In our latest ‘Whipping Yarn’, we talk with Simon Hart, former Conservative Chief Whip during Rishi Sunak’s Premiership. Hart opens up about his time in one of Westminster’s most demanding and discreet roles, chronicled in his new book, ‘Ungovernable: The Political Diaries of a Chief Whip’.
If a crisis or major national event occurs during a period when Parliament is adjourned, there are often demands from MPs, the media and the public for Parliament to be ‘recalled’. But the House of Commons Standing Orders stipulate that only Government Ministers - in reality, the Prime Minister - can ask the Speaker to recall the House. In recent years the House of Lords has generally been recalled at the same time as the House of Commons.
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.
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.
In this ninth instalment of our special mini-podcast series, we continue to explore the latest developments in the progress of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, often referred to as the assisted dying bill. We are joined by Dr Marie Tidball MP to discuss the amendments she has secured for a Disability Advisory Board and an independent advocate for people with learning disabilities.
