Annual Review Partner Organisations. Connecting Parliament and the public

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1 Partner Organisations Barnardos Barnsley Council Libraries Bassac Big Lottery fund Birmingham Archives BME VCS Regional Panel Bradford Community Broadcasting Bradford Resource Centre Brent Adult Education Services British Youth Council Calderdale Council Libraries Cardinal Hume Centre Confederation of British Industry Community Development Exchange CEMVO (Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Organisations) Scotland Chelmsford Museum Chelsea FC Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals Citizens Advice Bureau Citizenship Foundation Claim Your Voice Colchester Museum Community Network for Manchester Communities and Organisations: Growth and Support Community Links Community Matters Disability Arts Down Syndrome Association Electoral Commission Epping Forrest Museum Equality and Human Rights Commission Essex Library Services Essex Record Office European Parliament Fawcett Society Federation of Small Businesses Glamorgan Archives Groundworks GROW Rotherham Women s Network Hull Council Libraries Kent Archives Leeds Voice Lincoln University Marie Curie Mediatrust MENCAP MLA Yorkshire Museums, Libraries and Archives Council National Assembly for Wales National Childbirth Trust National Voices campaign National Association for Voluntary and Community Action National Council for Voluntary Organisations New Citizens Voice National Institute of Adult Continuing Education Norfolk Heritage Service Norfolk Record Office North Lincolnshire Council Libraries Novas Scarman Offer Princes Trust Regional Action West Midlands Regional Active Learning Alliance Rethink Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Libraries Ryedale Forum for Older People SCOPE Scottish Parliament Sheffield 50+ Skillshare NE Society of Chief Librarians Southend Central Museum St Leger Homes of Doncaster South Yorkshire Centre for Inclusive Living Take Part Terrence Higgins Trust The Nile Centre Trades Union Congress Tyne and Wear Museum and Archives Service UK Youth Parliament United Kingdom Acquired Brain Injury Forum University of Westminster UKonline United Response Voluntary Norfolk Voluntary Sector North West voluntary organisations network northeast Votewise Wales Council for Voluntary Action Wakefield Council Libraries Workers Education Alliance Westminster City Library YMCA Yorkshire and Humber Regional Assembly Yorkshire and the Humber Regional Forum Yorkshire Trust Youth Work Unit Zonte International Annual Review 2009 Connecting Parliament and the public

2 Contact 5 E: parliamentaryoutreach@parliament.uk T: W: The Parliamentary Outreach service is an excellent resource - NCVO has worked with them on a number of occasions at events across the country. We have always found them to be supportive, enthusiastic and professional. They are adept at explaining the intricacies of how Parliament works in an accessible and user-friendly way. Helen Donohoe Head of Campaigning Effectiveness, National Council for Voluntary Organisations

3 Detail taken from an original artwork by Rachel Gadsden Foreword by Mr Speaker 1 Overview of Parliamentary Outreach 2 Case Study: 4 Get Involved programme Cast Study: 6 Cultural programmes Case Study: 8 Working with Select Committees Parliamentary Outreach online 9 Case Study: 10 Adult Community Learning Afterword by the Lord Speaker 11

4 1 Foreword by Mr Speaker Today, Parliament faces some difficult and challenging circumstances and we must, as an institution, be prepared to change the way in which we engage with the public, adopting a vigorous approach to communicating what we do and how we do it. Parliamentary Outreach will play a central role in effecting this change and it is good to know that it has already developed strong sustainable relationships with a variety of national organisations. Through them, it has demonstrated the work and processes of Parliament, reiterating its relevance to people s everyday lives and highlighting how the public can get involved. I welcome this work and look forward to its continued growth and success. John Bercow MP Speaker of the House of Commons Image: Deryc R Sands Parliamentary Copyright.

5 3 Overview of Parliamentary Outreach The Parliamentary Outreach service is part of a strategy endorsed by both Houses to strengthen the connection between Parliament and the public. It is a bicameral service and addresses the issues, identified by both Houses, of diminishing levels of public trust of politicians as a group and the subsequent disconnection from the institution of democracy. The service exists to promote awareness of the work, processes and relevance of the institution of Parliament and through doing so, to increase levels of engagement. There are four main ways in which the Outreach service does this: I am now more knowledgeable and feel enthused about getting more involved in this area. Parliamentary Outreach were brilliant! I can t speak highly enough of this workshop. Citizens Advice Bureau training feedback Get Involved session Delivery of tailored information sessions outlining how Bills become law, how Select Committees work and how to find information on the Parliament website. Cultural programmes and exhibitions in partnership with local museums, archives and libraries. Aiding and promoting the work of Select Committees, including public meetings in the regions. Highlighting the relevance of Parliament to individual regions and devolved areas. During the first year of Parliamentary Outreach: 146 information sessions have been delivered, reaching over 5000 representatives of voluntary sector and other organisations. Over 75,000 people have visited Outreach exhibitions. 12 regional web pages have been created. 4 regional Select Committee visits have been arranged. Much of the work is delivered on demand, in partnership with organisations who wish to increase civic knowledge and involvement. Outreach is often delivered through their regional networks and infrastructure to help those organisations achieve their aims. Our work is focused on demonstrating the relevance of Parliament s work and ways in which the public can engage with it. The Parliamentary Outreach service covers the whole of the UK. Working with local organisations at a Breaking Barriers meeting - Chelmsford

6 Case Study: Get Involved programme Feedback from Get Involved people were asked what they had learned from the sessions: 5 A key aspect of Parliamentary Outreach s activities has been the provision of training on parliamentary processes for voluntary and community organisations. Lots! Very good overview on how Parliament works and laws are passed. In the autumn of 2008 the Yorkshire and Humber Outreach team ran a series of 10 seminars in locations around the region aimed at the voluntary and community sector. The seminars were held in Sheffield, Hull, Leeds, York, Scarborough, Harrogate, Doncaster, Bradford, Beverley and Scunthorpe, attracting nearly 200 attendees from around the region. My reasonable knowledge of Parliament has been made broader and more informed. Very helpful. Entitled Get Involved, the seminars were open to all voluntary and community organisations, and they gave attendees an introduction to Parliament and how it affects the voluntary sector. They looked at Select Committees, the making of laws, parliamentary questions and debates. The seminars also looked at the simple ways that groups could engage in those processes. Evaluation of these events has been overwhelmingly positive, and has led to many requests for follow-on sessions. Thank you! Really informative. Very bright and friendly staff. Lots and lots. Very informative, very interesting. Shame we didn t have more time. Partnership working Parliamentary Outreach meets a high level of demand for information on Parliament from a wide variety of regional and national organisations. In this way, the service complements the relationship citizens have with their MP. I think that most people don t know they can contact their MPs. Many are totally unaware that they can visit MPs at surgeries.

7 7 Case Study: Cultural programmes As part of the Parliamentary Outreach strategy, we have developed cultural programmes to run nationally, focusing on working partnerships with museums, libraries and archives. The aim is to allow adults and young people to engage with the history of Parliament and to discover its relevance today in a creative learning environment. In there have been three major cultural programmes: People and Parliament: Connecting with Communities Burying London Breaking Barriers Breaking Barriers Breaking Barriers: Looking at Women s Suffrage in Essex is an exhibition programme aimed at adults. It will tour throughout Essex in in museums and libraries across the region. Parliamentary Outreach worked with local community groups in Essex to discover how the work of the suffrage movement is still relevant to lives today. Meet the artist As part of the Breaking Barriers project, we worked with award-winning artist, Rachel Gadsden. She said: I am delighted to be playing a role in this innovative project. I am particularly excited to be working with members of Rethink and individuals from communities in Essex and to be able to consider the women s suffrage movement. In the workshops we looked at how people can engage with Parliament today and learnt art techniques. It was amazing to see participants create artworks which link the historical battle for enfranchisement with its contemporary significance. Rachel worked with groups who were encouraged to create works of art to reflect and interpret their discoveries about suffrage and engaging with Parliament. A free adult education programme of creative art workshops, lectures and handson sessions will take place throughout Essex in For more information about Parliamentary Outreach cultural programmes please contact: Rebecca Fawcett Cultural Programmes Manager fawcettr@parliament.uk Images taken from Breaking Barriers workshops, April 2009

8 9 Case Study: Working with Select Committees Parliamentary Outreach online The Parliamentary Outreach service has helped to facilitate Select Committee inquiries. This has varied from organising regional visits to experimenting with different methods of highlighting inquiries to the public. Ongoing inquiries are always promoted during Outreach sessions. With the appointment of a dedicated web editor, Parliamentary Outreach is committed to exploring innovative ways of promoting its activities online, including: Extending our presence on the Parliament website to include details of new regions covered by Outreach officers Highlighting and providing links to regionally focused Commons and Lords business Participating on popular web forums in different sectors to increase awareness and promote engagement with the work of Parliament on specific issues Contributing Outreach news to the Parliament website, publicising key events and exhibitions in a clear and accessible way Experimenting with video/image channels, such as Flickr and YouTube, to enhance the coverage of Outreach events, such as the Breaking Barriers programme Developing a training programme showing how the public can use the Parliament website to engage with the Commons and Lords Your session scored particularly highly on the feedback forms: people seemed genuinely astonished at just how much information there is available and found your whizz through the site really interesting. - Feedback from training session for Voluntary Norfolk Letter of thanks to Parliamentary Outreach from Rt Hon. Malcolm Bruce, MP

9 11 Case Study: Adult Community Learning Afterword by the Lord Speaker The aim of Outreach is to spread awareness of the work, processes and relevance of Parliament. One way of doing this is through the adult learning networks. East of England Outreach officer Sharon Stanley contacted Sue O Gorman, East of England Regional Director of National Institute of Adult Continuing Education, and was invited to local meetings with the directors of Adult Community Learning. She attended conferences to discuss learners with disabilities, ESOL needs and Skills for Life. Sharon also engaged with decision makers, introduced them to outreach working and offered tutorials on how Parliament works to groups who requested them. Sharon put together session plans and worked on different ideas for each class. For adult learners she introduced terms such as constituent and constituency, and for ESOL learners, she emphasised the importance of understanding the processes of Parliament and the terms democracy and freedom. She also stressed the importance of each individual s ownership of their vote. Those attending the classes have all responded positively. One tutor said:...thanks very much for coming to see us and giving a very interesting talk [and] handouts to our learners. I know they did appreciate this and said that they would now be taking more interest in voting and having their say Parliamentary Outreach plays a central role in helping improve the public s understanding of Parliament. Parliament currently faces profound challenges in re-establishing public trust and confidence and it is therefore vital that we continue and expand our outreach work. More than ever, we need to communicate clearly with the public so that debates about Parliament are rooted in knowledge of its role and functions. Explaining Parliament s work and highlighting its relevance to people s lives has never been more important. I applaud the excellent work of the Parliamentary Outreach team and hope that it can continue to strengthen the critical connection between Parliament and the public. Skills for Life classes are far more audienceresponsive. During these classes there were many interesting discussions on how politics affected the lives of those who attended. The Rt Hon. Baroness Hayman Lord Speaker Work is ongoing and classes have already been fully booked for the next term. By making contact with people through such networks, we can offer workshops to a wide range of people on their own terms and on their own ground. We are showing them how to navigate their way through our democratic systems and to respond positively to civic engagement at all levels.