| Annual Report 2001-02 |
| ANNUAL REPORT
2001-02 Office Reports House of Lords Administration: Organisation Chart  1. The House of Lords'
administration (excluding staff of the political parties or individual
Peers) numbers 404 staff. The Accounting Officer and, in accordance
with the Parliamentary Corporate Bodies Act 1992, the Corporate Officer
of the House of Lords is the Clerk of the Parliaments, Sir Michael Davies.
Staff are divided into two Departments: the Parliament Office under
the Clerk of the Parliaments and Black Rod's Department under the Gentleman
Usher of the Black Rod, General Sir Michael Willcocks. Staff salaries
and employment costs in 2001-02, including those for Refreshment Department
staff, totalled £9.32mn.
2. The Clerk of the
Parliaments is assisted by two Clerks at the Table. The Clerk Assistant,
Paul Hayter, is responsible to the Clerk of the Parliaments for the
Minutes of Proceedings of the House and the preparation of the Order
Paper containing future business. He is also responsible for the Legislation
Office, whose activities and expenditure are recorded on pages 42 and
43 and for strategy on information technology and systems. Michael Pownall,
the Reading Clerk, is also Principal Finance Officer. Net cash expenditure
by the Clerk of the Parliaments and Table Clerks in 2001-02 was £1,128,804
compared with £1,149,480 in 2000-01. The Fourth Clerk at the Table
(Judicial) and Registrar of Lords' Interests, James Vallance White,
heads the Judicial Office; its activities and expenditure are recorded
on page 40.
Aim and Objectives
of the Administration
3. In the course of
the year, and after consultation with heads of Offices, the aim and
objectives of the House of Lords' administration were revised. They
are now as follows:
The aim of the House of
Lords' administration is to enable the House and its members to carry
out their parliamentary and judicial functions fully and effectively,
and to give value for money.
The following key objectives
support the aim:
(i) To ensure that
the House and its committees have the necessary procedural, information,
research, administrative and security support to meet at any time and
in any circumstances;
(ii) To provide all
Members of the House (and their staff) with the services they need,
including appropriate accommodation and facilities, in support of their
parliamentary and judicial duties, regardless of party or office;
(iii) To provide the
public with information and with access to the proceedings of the House,
so as to enhance awareness and understanding of the House's work;
(iv) To maintain the
heritage and integrity of the House's buildings, objects and documents.
(Accountant: Andrew
Underwood)
1 Purpose
The aim of the Office is to provide
an accounting service to the House of Lords. To fulfil this aim, the
Office: (i) facilitates and co-ordinates the estimating process within
the House, (ii) accounts for the resources consumed by the House, (iii)
administers the Peers' Reimbursement Allowance Scheme and pays staff
salaries and all other general expenses, and (iv) provides financial
assistance to budgetholders and senior management.
2 Organisation
After 13 years as House of Lords'
Accountant, Colin Preece, OBE, retired in September 2001 and was succeeded
by Andrew Underwood.
The Accountant's Office has a staff
of 13 (one more than last year), one of whom is located in the Refreshment
Department. Five members of the Office hold professional accounting
qualifications and a further 3 are undertaking training towards this
goal.
The Office moved from 7 Old Palace
Yard to Millbank House in September 2001. The accommodation is better
suited to meet the current requirements of the Office.
3 Activities
and Financial Performance
Work on the move to full implementation
of Resource Accounting and Budgeting continued in close consultation
with the House of Commons and the National Audit Office. A single resource
based estimate was submitted to the Treasury for 2002-03. The Office
also undertook the necessary work to enable the House to submit details
of its resource requirements to the Treasury, for the period 2003-04
to 2005-06, in respect of the Government's Spending Review 2002.
The cash budget for the Accountant's
Office in 2001-02 was £443,500. Actual cash expenditure totalled
£395,642 (£376,788 in 2000-01); the increase was mainly due
to additional staff costs. The cash budget for Peers' expenses for 2001-02
was for £9,814,000;
actual expenditure totalled £10,014,470 (£8,411,551 in 2000-01)
(see Review of the Year, paragraph 85).
Of the 6,115 Peers' claims paid
during the year, 69% were paid within the Office's own target time of
7 days after receipt. 5,629 invoices were paid during the year for the
House as a whole. 98% of the Accountant's Office's own invoices were
paid within 30 days of receipt.
4 Future
Activities
Committee
Office
(Clerk of Committees:
David Beamish)
1 Purpose
The Office provides select
committees with procedural and legal advice and the administrative support
necessary to fulfil the committees' orders of reference.
2 Organisation
The work of the European Union Committee,
the Science and Technology Committee, the Constitution Committee, the
Economic Affairs Committee (all sessional, ie. permanent committees)
and any ad hoc
Select Committee is supported
by a unified Committee Office. The Office has a complement of 38 staff
(14 Clerks, a Legal Adviser and Legal Assistant to the European Union
Committee, a Legal Adviser to the Joint Committee on Human Rights, a
Specialist Assistant to the Science and Technology Committee, two IT
support staff and 18 secretarial, executive and clerical staff). Each
sub-committee and committee is served by a clerk and a committee assistant
or personal secretary. Committees regularly appoint specialist advisers
for particular inquiries.
The Office also joins with the Clerk's
Department of the House of Commons in supporting the Joint Committee
on Human Rights.
Three new posts were filled during
the year: a clerk and a secretary post to meet increased demands, and
a second clerical post, partly to cope with extra work following the
move of the Office out of the Palace of Westminster. Three new posts
of committee specialist, to provide support to the European Union Committee
and its sub-committees, were filled in June and July 2002.
In summer 2001, the Office moved
from accommodation spread between the First Floor, West Front, and 7
Old Palace Yard to the 4th and 5th floors of Millbank House. The move
went smoothly, and the level of service to committees did not suffer.
Some extra work arises from the fact that the Office is now in a separate
building, but the accommodation is generally more suitable than that
which was previously occupied.
3 Activities
and Financial Performance
An account of the work of committees
in 2001-02 - both sessional and
ad hoc - is given in the
Review of the Year (page 13).
In March 2002, an appointment was
made to the new post of Press and Information Officer for committees.
This post, which forms part of the Information Office but is based in
the Committee Office, has greatly strengthened the support available
to committees in publicising their inquiries and reports.
Budget provision for the Committee
Office in 2001-02 was £2,014,500; actual cash expenditure was £1,780,860
(£1,628,418 in 2000-01). The underspend was the result of the interruption
of committee work by the dissolution of Parliament and a lower than
expected level of expenditure by the newly appointed committees.
4 Future
Activities
Computer
Office
(Computer Officer:
Les Hobbs)
1 Purpose
The Office provides the necessary
support and expertise to enable the House, its Members and staff to
take full advantage of information technology in discharging their functions.
The Office supports the development of strategic approaches to allow
full use of technological advances.
2 Organisation
In October 2001, the Head
of the Computer Office, Joe O'Meara, took up the post of Head of the
new Joint Information Architecture Support Unit (see Review of the Year,
paragraph 59). He was succeeded by Les Hobbs.
The Computer Office has
a staff of 11: a Computer Officer, two Development Officers, five Training
and Support Officers (for member and staff training and computer support),
an Intranet Webmaster, and two assistants. Three staff vacancies occurred
during the year and one member of staff was on long-term sick leave.
A major change was the relocation
of the Computer Office to Millbank House and the provision of a Members'
multimedia room and two dedicated training suites. Despite the distance
from the Palace, the move from cramped facilities has improved the quality
of service.
3 Activities
and Financial Performance
Some of the main developments
during the year are described in the Review of the Year (page 21).
Demand for connection to
the Parliamentary Data and Video Network (PDVN) remained high and 144
new PCs were loaned to Members (110 during the previous year), of which
88 (56) were replacements for old models and 56 (54) were for first
loan requests. 320 individual training sessions were organised for Members,
compared with 197 in the previous reporting period; an increase of 61%.
The number of calls for support during the year increased from about
2,500 in 2000 to 3,647 in 2001-02; an increase of 68%. The number of
calls resolved within internal working targets increased by 30%.
Projects undertaken during the year
and not reported elsewhere included:
Budget provision for the
year was £1,899,000, £1,681,000 after virement (£1,361,000
in 2000-01) and net cash expenditure £1,410,293 (£1,509,104
in 2000-01), an underspend of £270,707. The underspend was largely
caused by a reduced estimate for the House's contribution to the PCD
and a delay in implementation of Parliament's redesigned website.
£330,000 was spent on computer
equipment for Members, compared with £311,000 in 2000-01.
4 Future
Activities
Establishment
Office
(Establishment
Officer: Edward Ollard)
1 Purpose
The Office provides a personnel
service for all House of Lords' staff. The responsibilities of the Office
include recruitment of staff, maintenance of the pay and grading systems
and other conditions of service, pay negotiation and authorisation,
occupational health, safety and welfare, and superannuation.
2 Organisation
The Establishment Office has 8 members
of staff, 2 of whom work exclusively on superannuation and related matters.
The Establishment Officer is Clerk to the Refreshment Sub-Committee
and is responsible, on behalf of the Clerk of the Parliaments, for supervising
the Refreshment Department. There were no changes in the complement
of the Office over the past year.
3 Activities
and Financial Performance
Net cash expenditure by the Establishment
Office was £524,076. Gross cash expenditure on superannuation was
£1,616,209. Superannuation contributions collected for family benefits
totalled £210,538. (Equivalent figures in 2000-01 were £536,200,
£1,464,863 and £192,124.)
4 Future
Activities
Journal
and Information Office
(Clerk of the Journals:
Brendan Keith)
The Office consists of two sections,
each with its own management structure:
1 Purpose
The Journal Office provides procedural
advice; maintains records on membership and business of the House; and
compiles the Journals of the House (the authoritative record of proceedings).
The Information Office produces
and disseminates publications about the role and work of the House;
manages contacts with the press and media; is the main liaison point
for the Parliamentary Education Unit (PEU); and provides an enquiry
service for Members of the House, the public, press and staff.
2 Organisation
The Journal Office
and Registry provides a research
and record-keeping service and advises on present and past procedural
developments. There are 8 staff, including 1 based in the Minute Room
to produce the daily Minutes of Proceedings and 1 part-time secretary
on maternity leave for part of the year.
The Information Office
aims to promote a better
understanding and knowledge of the role and work of the House. There
are 7 staff, including the Information Officer, a personal assistant,
and 3 staff who work primarily on the telephone and e-mail answering
service. During the year, 2 specialist staff were recruited: 1 to provide
support for the Information Officer in developing the publications programme
and the other to provide press and publicity support for committee work.
3 Activities
and Financial Performance
The main activities of the Information
Office are described in the Review of the Year, page 22. Other activities
included:
Net cash expenditure was
£667,501 compared with £591,607 in 2000-01.
4 Future
Activities
These
will include:
Judicial
Office
(Fourth Clerk at
the Table (Judicial): James Vallance White)
1 Purpose
The Judicial Office enables the
House of Lords to carry out its judicial functions by providing administrative
advice and support to the Lords of Appeal; the Registrar of Lords' Interests
compiles, publishes and keeps up to date the Register of Lords' Interests.
2 Organisation
The main Office, concerned with
the administration of the judicial work of the House, consists of 11
staff. There are 2 Clerks, the Taxing Clerk, 4 legal assistants on annual
contracts, 3 executive and clerical staff and 2 secretaries. The Law
Lords' Office, which provides secretarial services to the Lords of Appeal,
has 8 full-time staff: the Personal Assistant, 6 secretaries and a senior
attendant. There are also 2 judicial doorkeepers. An additional secretary
continues to be on long-term secondment to the inquiry into the events
of "Bloody Sunday" chaired by Lord Saville of Newdigate.
The Principal Clerk is also Registrar
of Lords' Interests and is assisted in this role by the Clerk and one
of the secretaries.
3 Activities
and Financial Performance
The number of petitions for leave
to appeal determined rose by 22% in 2001 and the number of petitions
allowed increased by 74%. 85 appeals were determined - an increase of
12% from 2001. The number of appeals awaiting determination has been
reduced from 90 to 89 in the current financial year. This number can
only be reduced further when both Appellate Committees sit at once,
which is difficult given the Law Lords' other duties in the Privy Council
and elsewhere. A fuller statistical account is set out in Judicial
Statistics, published by
the Lord Chancellor's Department.
July saw the departure of the first
4 legal assistants at the end of their posting. The scheme has been
successful and 4 new legal assistants joined the Office in October.
The petitions database project began "parallel running" in December.
It exceeds the original specifications and the first results are positive.
New editions of the civil and criminal practice directions were published
in June 2001.
The refurbishment of committee rooms
1 and 2, used to hear appeals, was completed in October with significant
improvement in the acoustics and in the facilities for the Law Lords
and Counsel.
The Office retains its responsibility
in respect of peerage claims although none was referred to the Committee
for Privileges during the year. Three new candidates were admitted to
the register of hereditary peers for by-elections, having proved their
succession under Standing Order (10A).
The activities of the Registrar
of Lords' Interests are described in the Review of the Year, page 16.
The cash budget for the Office was
£168,300 (£141,484 in 2000-01; £112,610 in 1999-2000;
and £122,950 in 1998-99). Total expenditure was £123,833 (£590,988
in 2000-01; £605,060 in 1999-2000; and £607,737 in 1998-99).
This does not include the Law Lords' salaries which are paid from the
Consolidated Fund. Total receipts were £499,715 (£443,220
in 2000-01; £496,708 in 1999-2000; and £494,435 in 1998-99),
9.5% below target. The Taxing Clerk has again increased the number of
occasions on which litigants agree their bills prior to formal taxation.
This is to be welcomed, even though it leads to a reduction of income.
The underspend of £44,467 (26.4%) was due to a delay in the development
of the petitions database and to underspend in Law Lords' travelling
expenses and on staff salaries.
4 Future
Activities
Judicial
Office:
(Clerk Assistant
and Clerk of Legislation: Paul Hayter)
The Legislation Office comprises
offices responsible for Public Bills, Private Bills and support for
the Chairman of Committees.
Financial
Performance
Budget provision for 2001-02 was
£885,000 and net cash expenditure was £709,771. The out-turn
for public bills was £344,347 (£525,456 in 2000-01) and for
private bills and the Chairman of Committees, net of fee income, £365,424
(£342,927 in 2000-01). Fee income from private bills was £28,000
(£19,000 in 2000-01). The major underspend was attributable to
the timing of the General Election in 2001.
Public
Bills
(Clerk of Public
Bills: Rhodri Walters)
1 Purpose
The Office manages and assists the
processes relating to the House's consideration of public legislation
and authorises, on behalf of the Clerk of the Parliaments, the publication
of Acts of Parliament and Measures.
2 Organisation
The complement consists of the Clerk
Assistant, 2 Clerks, a Higher Executive Officer and 2 Executive Officers.
3 Activities
and Financial Performance
4 Future
Activities
Private
Bills and Chairman of Committees' Office
(Clerk
of Private Bills and Examiner: Tom Mohan)
1 Purpose
The Office supervises the passage
of private legislation in accordance with the requirements of the House.
The Office also supports the Chairman of Committees.
2 Organisation
The Head of the Office, Philippa
Tudor, was seconded in August 2001 to the Scotland Office as Head of
its Parliamentary and Constitutional Division. She was succeeded by
Tom Mohan.
The complement comprises 6 posts
(including 2 part-time Counsel15
who share a post). These include a Clerk who, in addition to his private
bill duties, acts as Clerk to the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform
Committee (see Review of the Year, page 11), and a Clerk who acts as
Private Secretary to the Chairman of Committees.
3 Activities
and Financial Performance
The work of the Delegated Powers
and Regulatory Reform Committee is described in the Review of the Year
(page 11).
4 Future
Activities
Library
(Librarian:
David Jones)
1 Purpose
The Library provides research, information
and bibliographic services to support the legislative, deliberative
and judicial functions of the House.
2 Organisation
The Library has 28 permanent and
2 part-time staff; 15 of the 22 graduates on the staff hold professional
library qualifications. Three additional posts were taken up during
the year, following a review by the Staff Adviser.
3 Activities
and Financial Performance
The major project within the Library
was the installation of the PDVN in the uncabled parts of the Library's
main suite and the replacement of the original PDVN cabling in the Queen's
Room and the Librarian's Office. Library staff participated in the planning
of this project which was carried out during the Summer recess and involved
closing the rooms in the main suite, the Library corridor and the Librarian's
office. A service for Members, based in the Salisbury Room, was maintained
throughout the period. The ongoing programme of work continued on the
renovations of the Library's storerooms in the Palace. This involved
a substantial input from Library staff towards the storage offsite of
the contents of three storerooms. Renovation work carried out to date
has effected a significant improvement in access to material and working
conditions for staff.
Library staff were occupied throughout
the year in discussions on the Lords information strategy and with the
House of Commons on the Parliamentary Information Management Services
(PIMS) project.
Following a request from the party
whips and the Convenor of the Cross Bench Peers, the Library instituted
a new daily service listing papers deposited in the Library by Ministers
and government departments.
Staff at the Information Desks dealt
with a record number of enquiries - 17,230 compared with 16,073 in 2000-01.
The number of research enquiries answered declined slightly from the
previous year in consequence of the dissolution. 1,698 new titles or
new editions were added to the Library's catalogue (2,392 in 2000-01)
and 5,006 items were added to the POLIS database (4,470 in 2000-01).
Budget provision for 2001-02 was
£1,590,500. Net cash expenditure was £1,538,502 (£1,411,925
in 2000-01).
4 Future
Activities
Official
Report (Hansard)
(Editor: Carole
Boden)
1 Purpose
The Department of the Official Report
is responsible for providing a verbatim record of the proceedings of
the House and of Grand Committees off the floor.
2 Organisation
After 17 years' service as Editor
of Debates, Mary Villiers, OBE, retired and was succeeded by Carole
Boden.
The Department currently employs
21 full-time and 8 part-time staff. It is headed by the Editor of Debates.
There are a Deputy Editor, four Assistant Editors (one post is job-shared),
two Chief Reporters (one post is job-shared), 15 Reporters (one post
is job-shared), an Office Manager, a Personal Secretary (on a job-share
basis) and two Executive Officers (IT Managers).
3 Activities
and Financial Performance
134 Daily Reports and 30 weekly
volumes were published. From these, 9 Bound Volumes will be compiled.
The report of each day's proceedings was published in full on every
occasion with no report left over to the next sitting day.
There were only 2 Grand Committees.
The second of these - on the Employment Bill - sat for more days (9)
than any previous Grand Committee. These Committees continued to be
managed by the Chief Reporters, using reporters as sub-editors. The
Committee on the Employment Bill highlighted the fact that freelance
transcribers do not produce work to the high standard achieved by the
permanent staff.
The electronic version of Hansard
has been published daily on the Parliamentary Data and Video Network
(PDVN) and the Internet and, in the latter case, has been the subject
of 4,966,908 hits during the year, an increase of 400,000 on the previous
year. The text from 14 June 1996 continues to be available online on
both the PDVN and the Internet, with the text from earlier years available
on CD Rom. Major corrections are made not only for the Bound Volumes
but also to the electronic text. As this is done immediately, the electronic
text is more up to date than the printed Daily and Weekly Reports.
The cash budget for the financial
year was £1,700,800, against which net cash expenditure of £1,590,181
was incurred. This compares with net expenditure of £1,731,705
in 2000-01.
4 Future
Activities
Overseas
Office
(Clerk: David Beamish)
1 Purpose
The Office facilitates contacts
between the House of Lords and overseas parliaments and international
assemblies; and provides advice and support to Lords, including the
Lord Chancellor, when attending conferences overseas.
2 Organisation
The Clerk of the Overseas Office
undertakes his duties in addition to being Clerk of Committees. He is
supported by one full-time member of staff, the Visits Co-ordinator.
3 Activities
and Financial Performance
Many of the activities of the Office
during 2001-02 are described in the Review of the Year (page 16).
The United Kingdom Branch of the
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association held a Golden Jubilee Conference
in London and Oxford from 10-16 March 2002. The Clerk of the Overseas
Office, the Visits Co-ordinator and 12 other volunteer members of House
of Lords' staff provided support in the running of the Conference.
The Association of Secretaries-General
of Parliaments met (in conjunction with Inter-Parliamentary Union Conferences)
in Havana, Cuba (1-7 April 2001), in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (9-15
September 2001) and in Marrakech, Morocco (17-23 March 2002). These
meetings were attended by the Clerk Assistant, the Reading Clerk and
the Clerk of the Parliaments respectively.
The Clerk of the Parliaments attended
a meeting of the Society of Clerks-at-the-Table in Commonwealth Parliaments
held in conjunction with the annual Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary
Association in Melbourne and Canberra, 3-14 September 2001. He also
attended a meeting of Secretaries-General of European Union Parliaments
held at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 8 February 2002. The
Clerk Assistant represented him at a meeting of Secretaries-General
held in Madrid on 1 March 2002 to prepare for a Conference of European
Union Speakers to be held there in June.
The Clerk of the Journals attended
the Canadian Clerks' Professional Development Seminar in Halifax, Nova
Scotia, in August 2001.
The Office received, and prepared
programmes for, officials from overseas parliaments on attachment to
the House of Commons and dealt with a wide range of enquiries and communications
from overseas parliaments, including letters to the Lord Chancellor
as Speaker of the House from Speakers of other Parliaments.
Budget provision for the Overseas
Office in 2001-02 was £297,900; actual cash expenditure was £265,596
(£203,426 in 2000-01).
4 Future
Activities
Speakers'
Conferences in 2002-03 include:
Printed
Paper Office (including Supplies Office)
(Clerk of the Printed
Paper Office: Chris Rogers)
1 Purpose
The Office provides Parliamentary
papers and other documents needed by Members to discharge their Parliamentary
duties; manages contracts for the printing and publishing of House of
Lords' documents; provides advice and assistance on the procurement
of goods and services; provides office supplies, including pre-paid
envelopes for Members, photocopiers, fax machines and stationery; arranges
for the disposal of surplus computer equipment; and receives and records
papers laid before the House.
2 Organisation
There were 10 members of staff at
31 March 2002. A recent staff review is likely to recommend a total
complement of 9 staff, of whom two, including the newly-appointed Procurement
Officer, will be responsible for procurement and office supplies.
3 Activities
and Financial Performance
The Office assumed responsibility
for the management and monitoring of contracts with The Stationery Office
for the printing and supply of core documents and for publishing administration
and distribution services, and for checking the related invoices.
Pre-paid envelopes and postcards
for Members' use for correspondence on Parliamentary business were provided
and a stock control system and monitoring system established.
Responsibility was assumed for the
recording of parliamentary papers laid before the House.
New means were introduced of ensuring
that Members have early sight of urgent Lords' Notices, including their
display on the Parliamentary website and distribution by e-mail and
Datapost.
A Procurement Officer was appointed
to provide advice and assistance on procurement matters.
A new passenger lift linking all
parts of the Office has helped to improve the service offered to Members.
Budget provision was £1,463,300
(£1,748,800 in 2000-01). Net cash expenditure was £1,192,045
(£1,584,473 in 2000-01), of which £875,711 related to the
provision of publications for Members and staff. The drop in expenditure
compared with 2000-01 was due largely to the effect of the General Election.
4 Future
Activities
(Clerk of the Records:
Stephen Ellison)
1 Purpose
The Record Office provides an archive
service and a records management service for each House of Parliament,
answers enquiries about the archives and history of Parliament, and
makes records accessible to the public through the Search Room. The
Freedom of Information Officer, based in the Record Office, carries
responsibility for developing policies to implement the Freedom of Information
Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 1998 in the House of Lords.
2 Organisation
The complement of 6 archivists was
enhanced in April 2001 by the appointment of 4 temporary archivists
on 4-year contracts in connection with the electronic cataloguing project
and, in September, an appointment was made to the new post of Freedom
of Information Officer. The Office has 4 support staff, 6 Conservation
Officers and a part-time manager (seconded from the British Library),
and 3 Reprographic Officers (seconded from The Stationery Office).
3 Activities
and Financial Performance
Records Management,
Freedom of Information and Data Protection:
Management of these complementary information management functions has
been brought together; a functional arrangement favoured by the Government
and the Information Commissioner. Steady progress has been made in implementing
the strategy for Parliamentary records management, which will assist
compliance with the Lord Chancellor's Code of Practice on the management
of records under section 46 of the Freedom of Information Act.
Guidance for staff has been improved
by the creation of intranet pages and circulation of advice on sound
record keeping practices. Staff induction programmes in each House now
include records management, and Freedom of Information awareness training
has been delivered to senior staff.
Key activities were the agreement
of the corporate file classification scheme and commencement of its
rollout to offices and departments of both Houses, and participation
in a project board to assess the electronic records management requirements
of a document management system in Black Rod's Office. One product of
the latter was the first draft of a document on the Functional Requirements
for Electronic Records Management Systems in the Houses of Parliament,
setting out minimum records management requirements to be met by proprietary
software.
The Record Office participated in
a Commons' project board to consider a sustainable regime for records
management that is compliant with Freedom of Information, Data Protection
and other requirements.
Archive Service:
A contract was let for bringing the environmental conditions, electrical
wiring and fire warning systems in the Victoria Tower repository up
to standard. Building work commenced in July 2001 for completion in
2004-05. A full collection condition survey of the archives was launched
to enable conservation and preservation needs to be understood and addressed
strategically.
A 4-year programme for the retrospective
conversion of paper finding aids for inclusion in the electronic catalogue
was launched in April 2001. At the end of the year, the number of records
in the catalogue was approximately 91,200. The 432 "Historical Collections"
have been appraised and entered in the catalogue where appropriate;
some have been transferred to other archives and 8% (constituting copies
of records held elsewhere) have been destroyed. Catalogue entries for
all original Acts of Parliament from 1497 to 1999 have been mounted
on the National Archive Network, as have the catalogues to the Bonar
Law and Lloyd George collections (the latter funded partly by a grant
from the Heritage Lottery Fund).
The results of a National Survey
of Visitors to British Archives in February 2001 were encouraging. Respondents
recorded excellent ratings for the Office which were among the best
in the country: advice services (89%); document delivery (96%); copying
service (95%); and customer care (89%).
The original Act of Union with Ireland
was a prominent exhibit in the Bicentenary of the Act of Union Exhibition
mounted by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland at the Ulster
Museum in Belfast in Summer 2001 - the first time an original public
Act has been loaned outside Westminster.
Financial performance:
The Record Office is a joint
service of Parliament with its budgeted costs shared by the Lords and
Commons in the ratio of 60:40. Net Cash expenditure was £824,773.
There were receipts of £11,343 from the sale of photocopies and
royalties. The comparable figures for last year were £718,330 and
£12,599. The Commons' contribution was £320,600. The increase
in expenditure in 2001-02 was attributable mainly to the electronic
cataloguing project.
4 Future
Activities
Refreshment
Department
(Superintendent:
Alfio Bibbiani)
1 Purpose
The Department has responsibility
for the provision of catering facilities to Members, Officers and their
guests, staff and Counsel. It also provides a private function service
to Members and Officers of the House, and retails House of Lords' gifts
and souvenirs.
2 Organisation
The Department employs 104 staff
of whom 16 are in managerial positions and 4 are employed in a clerical
capacity. The Department makes considerable use of casual labour to
mitigate the effects of unfilled vacancies, variations in demand, staff
sickness and absence.
A review was undertaken by the Staff
Adviser, and his recommendations for significant increases in staff
were agreed.
3 Activities
and Financial Performance
The Department provided catering
services to Members, Officers, Counsel and staff through nine trading
outlets, a private function service and a Gift Shop. The new Millbank
Cafeteria opened in October 2001 and, after an initial settling-in period,
performed well up to expectations. The involvement in the Westminster
Hall Souvenir Kiosk continued and, as in the past, yielded a modest
return.
Turnover for the year was £2.73m,
representing a 3.5% decrease over the 2000-01 results. Revenues were
affected by several adverse factors: the foot and mouth outbreak, the
uncertainty about the General Election and the September 11 terrorist
attack. However, the Department managed to achieve excellent results
and only a marginal decline in sales. This reinforces the view that
no further expansion is currently possible within the present accommodation
constraints.
The implementation of the new Stock
Management system was delayed due to the insolvency of the original
preferred EPOS provider. A suitable replacement was sourced and, in
October 2001, the first phase of Stockwise was installed in the Gift
Shop.
The trading surplus was £1.43m
(£1.44m in 2000-01).
The performance of each outlet continued
to be monitored with reference to specified percentage profit targets,
set and reviewed periodically by the Refreshment Sub-Committee.
All internal and external performance
targets were met. A price increase in the Peers' Dining Room took effect
in the Autumn and helped to level out performance in this outlet which
continued to offer good value for money both in the long room and guest
side. During 2001-02, £750,000 of realised trading profit was surrendered
to the House of Lords' Vote (£650,000 in 2000-01).
The Refreshment Department cash
expenditure falling on the House of Lords' RFR (chiefly wage costs of
staff other than functions and retail) amounted to £1.65m gross
(£1.57m in 2000-01).
4 Future
Activities
Black
Rod's Department
(Gentleman Usher
of the Black Rod: Lieutenant General Sir Michael Willcocks)
1 Purpose
Black Rod's Department is responsible
for: the organisation and mounting of all ceremonial events in the Palace
of Westminster; security arrangements in the Palace in co-ordination
with House of Commons' Authorities; controlling access to the House
and its Chamber; the planning, supervision and control of the Works
programme and budget; for accommodation; and for the provision of domestic
services and facilities.
2 Organisation
General Sir Edward Jones retired
in May 2001 and was succeeded by Lieutenant General Sir Michael Willcocks
who was appointed following an open competition.
The overall organisation of the
Department has remained unchanged. The Staff Adviser's report on the
staffing and grading of the Doorkeepers was fully implemented, with
the loss of one Doorkeeper post. All staff posts are now filled with
well qualified personnel after a period which has seen the retirement
of several of the longest serving members.
3 Activities
and Financial Performance
The year was particularly busy and
included the Royal Commission for the holding of the new Parliament
and the State Opening of Parliament; the introduction of 42 new Peers;
3 recalls of Parliament and a major security review following the terrorist
attacks of 11 September; the preparations for Her Majesty the Queen's
Golden Jubilee; and the death of Her Majesty the Queen Mother. There
have also been major developments in the provision of accommodation
for Members.
a.
Ceremonial
b.
Security
c.
Visitors tour (Line of route)
d.
Works
e.
Administration
4 Finance
5 Future
Activities
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