UK Parliament Study Programme 2023
2023 was the inaugural year for the UK Parliament Study Programme. We welcomed eight participants from the legislatures in Anguilla, Canada, Japan, Kenya, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Seychelles, and Western Australia.
From January to June 2023, around 80 staff across both Houses of Parliament collaborated with the House of Commons Interparliamentary Relations Office to deliver this programme, comprising five online sessions and an in-person to Westminster in June.
The participants on this programme joined online sessions, which focussed on:
- Governance structures in the UK Parliament.
- How different teams collaborate to support and facilitate House of Commons Chamber business.
- Scrutiny in Parliament, looking at both select committee and legislative scrutiny.
- Engagement and parliamentary outreach of both the Chamber and committee business, public outreach initiatives and Parliamentary media relations.
- UK Parliamentary culture and Member services: concentrating on the work around cultural transformation of the UK Parliament in both the House service and the support provided to Members.
In each of these sessions, officials from the UK Parliament shared details of current practice, recent innovations and key challenges. Additionally, participants shared perspectives from their own institutions.
During the in-person visit to Westminster, participants were given the opportunity to see "Parliament at work". This included observing PMQs, meetings with the Speaker, heads of offices and tours of the Palace of Westminster.
The Programme culminated with a concluding seminar which gave our participants a platform to present to UK colleagues, as well as each other, on topics of contemporary relevance and interest within their respective legislatures.
David Hirst, Deputy Head of the Interparliamentary Relations Office in the House of Commons said: “We express our heartfelt gratitude to all the participants, speakers, and contributors who made this programme a resounding success and look forward to welcoming a new cohort of participants in 2024.”
James Maina Macharia, Media Relations Officer in the National Assembly of Kenya and participant in the Programme, said: “This is a fantastic program which is a such a high point of my career as a Parliamentary Officer.”
