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.
The UK Spending Review outlines how Government funds will be allocated over several years. Unlike the Budget, which raises revenue, the Review decides how it is spent. But how is it approved? What role does Parliament play if it doesn’t vote on the Review itself? This blog explores how the Spending Review works, how it differs from the Budget, and how Parliament holds the Government to account through the Estimates process.
On Friday 13 June, the House of Commons will once again debate the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which would legalise assisted dying in England and Wales. Specifically, it will hold a second day of Report Stage, during which the whole House will debate and vote on amendments. This briefing explains the structure of Report Stage, what happened on the first day of Report Stage, how amendments are selected and grouped, on which amendments a decision can still be taken, and the likely sequence of events this Friday, including whether a final vote will take place.
The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves MP, will deliver a statement on the Spending Review. MPs will resume Report Stage of the assisted dying bill and debate key legislation on football governance, mental health, and planning and infrastructure. Peers and MPs are expected to resolve their standoff over AI and copyright in the Data (Use and Access) Bill. The Commons Defence Committee will hear from the lead reviewers of the Strategic Defence Review, while a Lords Committee will examine the Chagos Archipelago sovereignty issue. The Hansard Society’s Director will give evidence to the Modernisation Committee about access to the House of Commons and its procedures.
In this episode, we explore why ministers keep bypassing Parliament to make major announcements to the media — and whether returning to the Despatch Box might help clarify their message. We unpack the Lords' uphill battle to protect creators’ rights in the Data Use and Access Bill, challenge claims that the Assisted Dying Bill lacks scrutiny, and examine early findings from a Speaker’s Conference on improving security for MPs, as threats and intimidation against politicians continue to rise. Please help us by completing our Listener Survey. It will only take a few minutes.
Our evidence on treaty scrutiny has been published by the House of Lords International Agreements Committee. Our submission outlines the problems with the existing framework for treaty scrutiny and why legislative and cultural change are needed to improve Parliament's scrutiny role. Our evidence joins calls for a parliamentary consent vote for the most significant agreements, a stronger role for Parliament in shaping negotiating mandates and monitoring progress, and a sifting committee tasked with determining which agreements warrant the greatest scrutiny.
