The WIB at 1000

2008 is a very special year for the House of Commons Information Office. We are celebrating our 30^th Anniversary, the 30^th Anniversary of the WIB and the 1000^th Edition of the WIB.

The original initiative behind the publication of the WIB was to provide Parliament and the public with information on the work of the House and its Committees in the week which had passed and a timetable for the coming week. Today, this idea seems so simple with all the advances in communications technology with personal computers and the internet but in the late 1970's it was ground-breaking. Back in 1978, there were no television cameras broadcasting proceedings in Parliament, radio broadcasting had only been made permanent and there was no Information Office to answer enquiries from the public. The world has changed since the Public Information Office of the House of Commons Library was created in 1978 and the first edition of the WIB rolled off the press. The WIB has continued to inform the world of parliamentary proceedings and has only slightly changed in its design since its first publication. It has, however, expanded in size and scope to provide greater information about the work of Parliament.

The WIB rapidly established itself and its reputation was further enhanced when the cover of the WIB was used to display the episode title for the BBC comedy Yes Minister at the end of the each title sequence in 1980.

There have been many editors and typists that have laboured thousands of hours to finish the master document ready for The Stationery Office printers by the all important 12.30pm Friday afternoon deadline. Originally, typing machines were used and pieces of paper were cut and pasted together to form this document. Although computers have changed the way the WIB is produced they have not reduced the intensity of the work involved or the time taken to publish 60 odd pages each week. At least a dozen sources of information are required to produce the Forthcoming Business pages alone. As technology has advanced, so has the amount of information that can be provided. The preparatory work for the WIB now also produces the Bill pages and the new Parliamentary Calendar on the Parliament website making that work more available more quickly.

This editorial is dedicated to all previous editors and WIB typists over the last 30 years who have spent many late nights and stressful Friday mornings toiling away to produce the WIB. I would also like to thank Jenny Walpole and Miranda Olivier-Wright for being such superb Deputy Editors and for without whom there would be no WIB.

Kevin Williams

WIB Editor