Business Plan of the House of Lords Administration 2018/19 - HOUSE OF LORDS - Parliament UK
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HOUSE OF LORDS
Business Plan
of the
House of Lords
Administration
2018/19
Published by the authority of the House of Lords
HL Paper 109
2 | Business Plan of the House of Lords Adminstration
Contents
Introduction by the Clerk of the Parliaments 4
Our aim 5
Strategy for the House of Lords Administration 2016-21 6
Our priorities 7
Delivering our core business 8
Core business of the House of Lords Administration 9
Context: our challenges and opportunities 10
What we will deliver during 2018/19 12
Resources 16
Corporate risks 18
Performance measures 19
2018/19 | 3
Introduction by the Clerk of the
Parliaments
I am delighted to introduce the Business
Plan for the House of Lords Administration
2018/19.
This plan sets out our activities over the next twelve
months in support of our strategic aim and objectives.
The plan rightly emphasises the importance of ‘business
as usual’. As a demand-led organisation, the work we
undertake on a daily basis in support of members is the
core of our work and the principal means of meeting
our aim and objectives. This work is being given
renewed urgency and importance from the demands
placed on the House by the Brexit process and much of our activity over the coming year
will rightly be focused on supporting the House’s role in scrutinising and legislating for
Brexit.
But that is not all we are doing. Importantly, both Houses have decided to vacate the Palace
of Westminster to enable the programme of work to renovate the fabric and services in
the Palace to proceed in the most expeditious and cost-effective way. We are beginning
the process of planning how to ensure the continuity of services for the House during the
period the works are underway, and of identifying options for refitting the Lords part of the
Palace. This is a long-term programme, with the Houses not expected to leave the Palace
until the mid-2020s, and it will increasingly dominate our work.
To ensure that we as an Administration are ready to meet those challenges, I have
identified four priorities. These priorities – adapting and innovating, providing excellent
services, becoming a unified Administration, and embedding diversity and inclusion – are
designed to underpin our strategic aim to support and strengthen the House and its
members in carrying out their Parliamentary functions. These priorities are also evident in a
number of the activities contained in this year’s plan of work, and I look forward to working
with staff and members in developing them further over the coming year.
Ed Ollard
Clerk of the Parliaments
4 | Business Plan of the House of Lords Adminstration
Our aim
The aim of the House of Lords Administration is to support and
strengthen the House and its members in carrying out their
parliamentary functions.
This business plan sets out how we, the Administration, plan to do this during 2018/19.
We will achieve this through the hard work and talents of our 574 Lords staff, and the
many bicameral staff who support the work of both Houses of Parliament.
There is also a significant financial investment to support and strengthen the work of the
House, with a resource budget of £132m for 2018/19.
The plan has been approved by the House of Lords Commission, chaired by the Lord
Speaker, and represents our agreement with the Commission about how we will support
the House over the coming year.
The plan is framed by the Strategy for the House of Lords Administration 2016-2021, which
was agreed by the Commission in 2016. The Strategy is shown overleaf. (A more detailed
version of the strategy is available online.)
2018/19 | 5
STRATEGY FOR THE HOUSE OF LORDS ADMINISTRATION 2016 - 2021
Our strategic aim is to:
Support and strengthen the House and its members in carrying out their parliamentary functions
Objective 2:
Objective 1: Objective 3:
Promote public understanding of the
Provide effective services to Make Parliament safer, more
House of Lords and engagement with
facilitate the work of the House secure & sustainable
its work
To achieve our objectives, we will:
Improve the Administration’s Continuously Be a skilled, diverse, inclusive Work in new ways, Work collaboratively,
flexibility and responsiveness improve value for and agile workforce maximising the inclusively and in
money potential of digital tools partnership
To assess and measure our performance, we will:
Seek regular feedback, including through Evaluate the impact and Take account of best practice Improve the tools we
surveys with members, staff and the effectiveness of our activities in other organisations use to monitor and
general public assess performance
Our work will be informed by the following values:
Respect for the role of Impartiality Integrity Diversity, inclusion and Responsibility to taxpayers,
the House respect for others society and the environment
Page 1 of 7
Our priorities
In order to help us deliver the Strategy, in June 2017 Ed Ollard, the Clerk
of the Parliaments and Chief Executive of the Lords Administration, set
the following priorities.
We have been using these to help deliver our core work as set out on the following pages.
We also plan a small number of initiatives to take these priorities forward, set out on page 15.
Adapting and innovating
The next few years will bring change and challenges to the House of Lords, including
supporting Parliament’s work on Brexit and making a success of Restoration and Renewal.
We need to build on our existing professional skills and expertise, and be ready to exploit
the opportunities new technologies offer for how we work. This will require us to be
flexible and responsive in order to adapt to changing requirements and circumstances, as
well as prepared to examine how we work now and how we will meet the demands of the
future.
Providing excellent services
Providing excellent services to members, the public and colleagues across the
Administration and Parliament is central to what we do as an organisation. We need to
understand how our services work for those who use them. Our aim is to provide a
service that feels seamless and optimised to meet their needs, and doesn’t require the user
to know how we are organised in order to interact with us successfully. This applies not
only to the services we deliver to our members, but the ones we deliver to each other.
Becoming a more unified Administration
We have a lot of different skills within our teams, and we need to consider how they
can be shared and used to best effect, not only in our individual offices but across the
Administration. This will enable us to meet the changes and challenges ahead and to provide
our staff with a stimulating and varied working environment. This will help our staff to
develop their careers in an Administration that feels like a single entity.
Embedding diversity and inclusion
The Administration is committed to creating an inclusive culture and valuing diversity. We
must ensure that diversity and inclusion are central to all of our work. By making all of our
staff and the public feel welcome and included, the Administration will contribute more
effectively to parliamentary democracy by better reflecting the public as a whole.
2018/19 | 7
Delivering our core business
We are focused above everything else on delivering great services to support and explain the
work of the House. This diagram shows how we are organised to deliver our key services.
Parliamentary Services Support Services Communications
Black Rod’s Department Facilities External Communications
(Doorkeepers, access, (Office accommodation, including
ceremonial) reception and cleaning services) Internal Communications
Committee Office Catering and Retail
(Scrutiny by Select Committees) (Catering outlets, retail service)
Hansard (Record of proceedings)
Journal Office Strategic Estates Education, Outreach
(Procedural advice, publication Major works and Visitor Services
of House documents, registry)
Legislation Office
(Bills and delegated legislation)
In-House Services
Library (Research)
Maintenance and works
Registrar of Lords’ Interests projects
Parliamentary Digital Financial Resources
Service (PDS)
Finance Department
Digital support for members (Payroll, accounting, financial
and staff, development and planning, Members’ finance)
implementation of new
technologies
Parliamentary
Procurement and
Commercial Service
Human Resources Corporate Services Parliamentary Security
Clerk of the Parliaments’ Office Department (PSD)
Human Resources Office
(Recruitment, pensions, staff) (Support for Management Board
and Domestic Committees, Security of estate, members,
business planning, risk and staff and visitors
performance management.
Internal Audit)
Overseas Office
Lord Speaker’s Office
(Includes support for Commission)
Information Compliance
Parliamentary
Archives
House of Lords services Bicameral services
8 | Business Plan of the House of Lords Adminstration
DataCore
illustrating the of
business work
theofHouse
the House of Lords
of Lords Administration
Administration
Organise In a typical year, House and bicameral staff will:1
and support Deal with
around
Let over 350,000
140 Help
Members to
transactions in
sittings of the House 350 table around
catering outlets
Support
contracts over
and process over
60 Reach
4200
sittings of the Grand
out to
amendments to bills
30,000
Committee and 16,000 232,000 and visits to the public
invoices gallery
twitter followers
600 6500 Support
select committee Questions for over
meetings Written Answer
Provide
providing quality
digital services
and support to 1000
meeting facilities, some Prepare visits to the
research and and publish Parliamentary
supporting around Archives search
documentation, 800 room and
and transcription/
broadcasting services
members and Provide 150
property and
office support committee reports 6000
Produce 600 for the Members inquiries
and staff on the
staff
280 Parliamentary
Estate 1
Data relating to sittings of the House are an
research briefings average of the past four parliamentary sessions
(2013-14 through to 2016-17). Other data mainly
relate to the 2016/17 financial year. Data on
Twitter followers is as of December 2017.Context: Our challenges and
opportunities
Brexit
The Administration is supporting the House’s planning for possible changes in the level
and format of parliamentary business as a consequence of the referendum result that the
UK should leave the EU. An increase in scrutiny and legislative work can reasonably be
expected, but the exact nature, level and timing are not certain. Offices are planning, so far
as possible, to be able to deal with these uncertainties and to support fully the work of the
House.
Size of the House
The Lords Speaker’s committee on the size of the House reported in October 2017 and
suggested that, over the next decade, the membership of the House of Lords should be
reduced by around a quarter to 600. The size would then be capped at that number, with
new members appointed in line with election results and serving fixed terms of 15 years.
The House debated the proposals in December 2017, and the Prime Minister set out her
response in a letter to the Lord Speaker on 20 February 2018. Discussions were continuing
at the time of writing.
The Parliamentary Estate
Following debates on how to proceed with the Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of
Westminster, both Houses agreed in 2018 that a full decant of the Palace was the best
and the most cost-effective delivery option, as recommended by the Joint Committee
on the Palace of Westminster. The first step in taking that option forward will be the
establishment of a Sponsor Board and Delivery Authority, initially in “shadow” form but
subsequently by legislation, to develop a business case and costed programme for the work
to be approved by both Houses of Parliament.
The decant of both Houses is unlikely to take place before the middle of the next decade.
Alongside that work, there will remain a need to invest in ensuring that the Palace
continues to provide an appropriate workplace for members and staff alike, and a safe
environment for those visiting Parliament, and to ensure that the buildings on the Lords
part of the Parliamentary Estate outside the Palace are developed to enable them to be
used effectively both now and subsequently to support the decant. For example, the work
on renovating the 5 Great College Street portion of Millbank House will be completed later
in 2018, and it is anticipated that work will begin to refit Fielden House in 2019. In both
spaces, the intention is to exploit opportunities to support new ways of working.
10 | Business Plan of the House of Lords AdminstrationContext: Our challenges and
opportunities
Security
The safety of members, visitors and staff is always a vital priority for the Administration.
Following the terrorist attack of 22 March 2017 a security review was completed, the
conclusions of which informed the existing schedule of ongoing security enhancements for
the Estate.
The decision to give cyber security a high priority in recent years was justified by
Parliament’s ability to respond effectively to the cyber attack in June 2017. In light of
the worsening global threat, cyber security will remain a high priority. While a major
programme of investment is scheduled to conclude in 2018/19, there will be continued
focus and ongoing work in subsequent years.
The overall vision for Parliament’s digital strategy is to deliver excellent digital services for
a modern Parliament. A key element of this strategy is to provide secure technology that
works.
Economy
For work planning purposes only, our core assumption is that the economy is likely to
remain in a similar position as in previous years, with growth, inflation and employment
remaining at similar levels.
2018/19 | 11What we will deliver during 2018/19
As well as continuing to deliver our core services which will be the focus of much of our
work over the course of the next year, we have identified 27 key deliverables which will help
us to deliver the Strategy in future.
Key activities: Objective 1 (provide effective services)
Deliverable Target date Lead business area
Support Brexit-related scrutiny work, No specific target date: Parliamentary Services
including supporting the House’s planning for ongoing throughout 2018/19 (specifically Committee
possible changes in the level and format of Office, Legislation Office,
parliamentary business, and delivery of such Library)
work. This will include additional resources (Accountable Board
and also support for the informal Brexit liaison Member: Clerk Assistant)
group chaired by the Senior Deputy Speaker.
Support the Liaison Committee review of 2018/19 Committee Office
investigative Committee activity led by the (Clerk Assistant)
Senior Deputy Speaker, and implement agreed
recommendations.
Support further work on the size of the House No target date set: Clerk of the Parliaments’
if and when mandated by the House. dependent on decisions of Office, Journal Office
the House (Clerk of the Parliaments)
Roll out Office 365, Skype for Business and O365: Lords staff by Digital Service
Windows 10 for House of Lords members and December 2018, Members (Director of the
staff. as part of Windows 10 Parliamentary Digital
SfB: Lords staff by June 2018, Service)
Members by March 2019
Windows 10 by June 2019
Continue to develop the Journal Office as the March 2019 Journal Office
Procedural Centre, in particular establishing (Clerk Assistant)
the core functions of a Procedural Centre of
Excellence.
Ensure that effective policies and processes End 2018, subject to Human Resources Office,
are in place and that action is taken against political agreement across Journal Office,
bullying, harassment and sexual harassment. both Houses Clerk of the Parliaments’
This includes taking forward, with the House Office
of Commons, the detailed recommendations (Clerk of the Parliaments)
of the Cross-Party Working Group on an
Independent Complaints and Grievance Policy.
Consult and then take action aimed at addressing Consultation conducted Human Resources Office
the gender pay disparity as highlighted in the first and actions agreed by end (Clerk of the Parliaments)
gender pay gap report. July 2018
12 | Business Plan of the House of Lords AdminstrationWhat we will deliver during 2018/19
Key activities: Objective 2 (promote public understanding and engagement)
Deliverable Target date Lead business area
Continue work to deliver a website Committee data, bills data Parliamentary Digital
fit for purpose for the House of and research briefings to be Service, supported by
Lords and for Parliament as a whole, operational by September 2018 Communications
specifically by adding committee data, (Accountable Board Member:
bills data and research briefings. Director of the Parliamentary
Digital Service)
Continue to develop the House Media rebuttal, responding to Communications
of Lords social media strategy in public questions and correcting (Director of Corporate Services)
collaboration with the Digital Service, information, and increasing use
and explore the opportunities to of AV to highlight key moments
extend the Enquiry Service and Press from business by September
and Media functions to our digital 2018
platforms.
Explore generation of captioning on Position paper written by Hansard
broadcast and webcast outputs and March 2019 (Clerk Assistant)
so meet D&I needs for persons with
hearing impairments. End target date: 2020/21
2018/19 | 13Key activities: Objective 3 (make Parliament safer, more secure and sustainable)
Deliverable Target date Lead business area
Develop and implement the security Complete the Strategic Outline Parliamentary Security
programme. Programme Case by July 2018 Department
(Accountable Board Member:
Director of Security)
Complete delivery of the cyber Key outcomes and benefits Parliamentary Digital Service
security programme. achieved by March 2019 (Director of the Parliamentary
Digital Service)
Continue essential works Occupation of new Millbank Department of Facilities,
programmes including conclusion House offices by August 2018 working with Strategic Estates
of the Millbank House development Start on site Fielden House by (Director of Facilities)
project and launch of Fielden House December 2018
refurbishment project.
Complete Fire Life Safety End 2018 (life safety works Strategic Estates
Improvement Works. only). Fire Safety Improvement (Director of Facilities)
Works programme scheduled
to conclude June 2020
Support development of plans for Shadow Sponsor Board to be Restoration and Renewal
Restoration and Renewal of the established by mid-2018 Programme, working with
Palace of Westminster, including Department of Facilities and
governance arrangements, decant of other Lords offices
the Lords, conduct of the work, and (Clerk Assistant)
long-term requirements for the Lords.
Continue planning to decide long-term Strategic Outline Programme Archives Accommodation
future location of the Parliamentary Case to be approved during Programme
Archives (Archives Accommodation 2018 (Director of Corporate Services)
Programme) and specifically approve
strategic outline programme case.
Use new Parliamentary Safety March 2019 Department of Facilities
Assurance Board to drive (Director of Facilities)
improvements in health and safety
in order to achieve the objective of
‘moderate’ assurance for construction
safety on the Parliamentary Estate.
Introduce non-Member sponsored First non-Member sponsored Department of Facilities
banqueting and events. banqueting event to take place (Director of Facilities)
by September 2018
Implement effectively the requirements GDPR comes into force 25 May Information Compliance,
of the General Data Protection 2018 (work will continue after Clerk of the Parliaments’
Regulation and the anticipated Data this date to manage privacy and Office
Protection Act 2018. security risks on an ongoing (Director of Corporate Services)
basis)
14 | Business Plan of the House of Lords AdminstrationKey activities to support our priorities
Deliverable Target date Lead business area
Through the Working Differently Support HRO in revisions to staff Business Improvement and
initiative, increase flexibility in where, handbook by September 2018 Change team and Human
when and how we work, improving Lessons learned from move to Resources Office
our ability to meet the needs of the 5GSC by December 2018
House. (Director of Human Resources
[Adapting and innovating] On the basis of Administration- and Director of Corporate
wide framework, each office to Services)
hold discussion, identify actions
appropriate for their area, and
produce plan by December 2018
Deliver change management training End 2018 Human Resources Office,
to key staff across the Administration. supported by Business
[Adapting and innovating] Improvement and Change
team
(Director of Corporate Services
and Director of Human
Resources)
Develop and initiate robust system First round of interviews Communications
of qualitative research into Members’ completed by September 2018
views of our services. (Clerk Assistant)
[Providing excellent services]
Based on that research, make Work on initial survey findings Business Improvement and
improvements to Members’ by January 2019 Change team, working with
experience of our services. relevant offices
[Providing excellent services] (Director of Corporate Services)
Deliver work on Job Families to May 2018 Human Resources Office
support cross-Administration (Accountable Board Member:
development opportunities for staff. Director of Human Resources)
[Becoming a unified Administration]
Implement improved risk End 2018 for risk management; Governance team, Clerk of
management framework with greater April 2018 for KPIs the Parliaments’ Office
support for risk management at office (Director of Corporate Services)
level, and implement new set of Key
Performance Indicators.
[Becoming a unified Administration]
Introduce a new staff performance April 2019 Human Resources Office
management system. (Director of Human Resources)
[Becoming a unified Administration]
Launch of Learning Disabilities Work End October 2018 Human Resources Office
Experience Week in partnership with (Director of Human Resources)
Mencap.
[Embedding diversity and inclusion]
2018/19 | 15Resources
Financial Plan 2018/19 to 2020/21
This business plan is underpinned by a financial plan which was agreed by the Commission
in December 2017. Much work and expenditure is bicameral and our planning is therefore
carefully co-ordinated with the House of Commons.
Budget for next three years
The House of Lords’ budget over the next three years is as follows:
2018-19 £m 2019-20 £m 2020-21 £m
Resource 132.3 117.3 127.7
Capital 65.9 70.9 53.4
The increases in capital budget arise from Parliament’s Medium Term Investment Plan. A one-
off increase in resource in 2018/19 allows £12.5m for a revaluation adjustment when building
work on Millbank House is complete. Resource budgets for business-as-usual areas show
some growth to allow for pay and other inflation. Costs relating to security will increase
to reflect the current security environment, the work relating to the security programme
and the impact of the expansion of the northern boundary of the Parliamentary Estate. ICT
will also increase due to a variety of programmes relating to cyber-security, Office 365,
infrastructure renewal and IT maintenance. For members’ allowances and expenses, the
financial plan assumes 145 sitting days in 2018/19 and 140 in 2019/20 and 2020/21.
The table below breaks down the 2018/19 figures by budget category.
2018-19 £m
Capital investment 65.9
Staff costs 34.2
Members allowances and expenses 22.4
Estates current expenditure 25.4
Other shared services 7.5
External services 10.2
IT and IS services 8.2
Grants 1.5
Office supplies 0.4
Publicity and exhibitions 0.3
Printing and publications 0.9
Catering and Retail Services trading costs 2.0
Reserves 1.8
Strategically managed costs 0.5
Non-cash costs 22.7
Receipts (5.7)
GRAND TOTAL 198.2
Resource total 132.3
Capital total 65.9
16 | Business Plan of the House of Lords AdminstrationResources
“Other shared services” covers services shared with the House of Commons other than
those relating to the Parliamentary Estate and the Parliamentary Digital Service.
“Strategically managed costs” contains central provision for other significant costs which
are expected to arise but are uncertain, and for other expenditure for which business cases
are expected and are yet to be approved.
Investment
Parliament’s Medium-Term Investment Plan (MTIP) is available online. It brings together
investments in the Estate and ICT plus strategic programmes for Restoration and Renewal
of the Palace of Westminster, Archives Accommodation, Relocation Contingencies and
the House of Commons Northern Estate. The House of Lords shares are included in the
Medium Term Financial Plan.
For Restoration and Renewal, the House of Lords pays 40% of Palace and Programme costs
(as for the Palace generally) and 100% of Lords decant costs. These budgets may transfer to
a different Estimate in due course.
For Archives Accommodation the Lords pays 60%, as for the Archives generally.
ICT budgets are mostly shared with House of Commons, with the House of Lords paying
30%. For Relocation Contingencies, the House of Lords pays a 40% share.
Financial remit
The financial remit set by the House of Lords Commission is to “adhere to the savings
target of not increasing the resource budget in real terms (compared with 2010/11),
subject to the need to maintain the ability of the House and its Members to carry out their
parliamentary functions in changing circumstances including increased attendance, and
subject to exceptional adjustments reflecting property revaluations”.
The budget for 2018/19 complies with this remit – in real terms our resource budget for
2018/19 is lower than it was for 2010/11, despite the rise in the size of the House, reflecting
consistent delivery of efficiencies and savings across the Administration over the past
decade. The projection for 2019/20 also meets the remit, however the current projection
for 2020/21 does not.
During 2018/19, the remit for future years will be reviewed in light of increasing pressures
for investment in security and the fabric of the Estate. Spending plans for future years will
be re-evaluated in the light of that review.
2018/19 | 17Corporate risks In January 2018 the Board agreed to manage an updated set of corporate risks. The corporate risks as of March 2018 are: • Cyber-attack against parliamentary systems causes serious disruption to the strategic plan objectives and to the work of Members and their staff. • Failure to keep secure the Parliamentary Estate, members, staff and visitors. • Failure to have enough of the right people in the right place with the right skills at the right time, to facilitate the work of the House. • Failure to manage, secure and exploit House information effectively. • Ineffective relationship with stakeholders affects the Administration’s ability to achieve its strategic goals. • Failure to prevent infrastructure failure, fire, or health and safety incident in the Palace of Westminster or any Lords building on the Estate. • Failure to manage financial resources effectively. Following the corporate risk review, during 2018/19 a review of office risks will be undertaken. Together these reviews will enable the Administration to better address risks and uncertainties, and ensure actions are being taken at both corporate and office level to mitigate them. We will work closely with the House of Commons and the bicameral Enterprise Portfolio Management Office, and wherever possible and appropriate will align our work. 18 | Business Plan of the House of Lords Adminstration
Performance measures
From the start of 2018/19, the Management Board will assess the
following Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):
Objective 1 – supporting the work of the House
• House and Grand Committees sit as planned, without disruption
• Member feedback on procedural services
• Key procedural documents and briefs: timeliness
• Key procedural documents and briefs: accuracy
• Coverage of House Business by Library briefings
• Timeliness of Library briefings
• Parliamentary Network availability
• Parliamentary Digital Service response and resolution times
Objective 2 – promoting public understanding
• Impact of Parliamentary Outreach and public engagement
• Customer satisfaction with Visitor Services tours
• Satisfaction with Education Service provision
• Engaging the public through digital communications
• Sentiment of media coverage of the House
• Effectiveness in responding to FOI requests
• Speed of publication of Acts of Parliament
Objective 3 – making Parliament safer, more secure and sustainable
• Maintenance
• Cleaning
• Security
• Efficiency in processing pass applications
• Meeting environmental targets
• Health and safety
Supporting objectives
• Staff morale indicator
• HR and management performance indicator
• Diversity indicator
• Managing financial resources
• Processing payments and payroll
• Making financial information available
• Procurement: customer feedback
• Outstanding internal audit recommendations
• Catering and Retail Services: net subsidy
• Satisfaction with shared services
2018/19 | 19You can also read
