Job vacancy

Should you apply? To help you decide, here’s a look at a few of the challenges you might face… 1.Negotiating the parliamentary fall-out of the end of coalition: Thanks to the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 it seems increasingly likely the Coalition will make it to the end of its full five- year term. However, as the end approaches, the parties will want to highlight differences in their positions in key areas of policy and may wish to use the intricacies of Parliamentary procedure to do so. Might there be more rebellions on government legislation or separate statements from the government dispatch box, as we saw after the Leveson report? You will need to be on hand to advise on what could prove to be contentious interpretations of the parliamentary rule book. 2.Navigating the results of the 2015 election: There has been speculation that another hung parliament might result in a government based on a confidence-and-supply alliance, or even one run without a pact on a vote-by-vote basis. In these situations parliamentary proceedings will be key to that government’s success or failure. It will be up to you to offer impartial advice to all the parties on how to achieve their parliamentary aims. It may be necessary to give unpopular advice, but fear not, your Letters Patent from the Queen mean that you can only be sacked upon an Address of both Houses to the Sovereign! 3.Following through the implications of the Scottish referendum: As the Lords Constitution Committee recently highlighted, a ‘yes’ vote would raise a number of issues for the House of Commons including: the status of Scottish MPs between the referendum and independence day; the question of when Scottish MPs would leave the House of Commons; and the position of Scottish MPs in negotiations. On the other hand a ‘no’ vote will lead to negotiations over the reality of ‘devolution max’, which will simultaneously stimulate debate over the role of MPs from outside England voting on issues relating only to England (the so-called West Lothian question). You will need to advise on the impact of different decisions on these issues for parliamentary business. 4.Combining politics with good management: As Clerk of the House you will also be the Chief Executive of the House of Commons Service of some 1,750 people. You will chair the Management Board, which is responsible for the services that support the work of the House and its Members. The Board works “under the overall direction of the House of Commons Commission,” which is a group of Members chaired by the Speaker and has the final say on management decisions. You will need to be an astute political operator as well as an excellent manager to navigate this system. 5.Handling the money: As Accounting Officer for the administration of the House of Commons you will have personal responsibility for the expenditure of public money in the running of the House. The House administration will have cut its budget by 17% in real terms over the course of this parliament, but as austerity continues to bite you may be asked to find further savings while maintaining (or better still increasing!) the House’s effectiveness in holding the Government to account. 6.Maintaining the building: As Corporate Officer of the House, you will enter into contracts and leases on its behalf, and hold all of the House’s property. While being the legal owner of Big Ben might sound like fun, you should anticipate some sleepless nights as you come to realise the potential cost of the restoration and renewal of the Grade 1 listed UNESCO world heritage site which is the Palace of Westminster. That’s not to mention the logistical challenge of decanting the Palace’s occupants while the programme is underway… 7.Managing the House of Commons’ digital transformation: Driven in part by the need to find savings from its previously sizeable printing budget, the House of Commons has made significant steps into the digital era in recent years with a print-to-web programme and ‘cloud first’ strategy. Nevertheless, the Speaker’s Commission on Digital Democracy seems likely to come up with still more innovative ways in which Parliament can benefit from the potential of new technologies, and it will be up to you to help the Speaker take that agenda forward in the next parliament. Still keen? On the upside the remuneration offered is £198,694 plus benefits and a tied residence on Whitehall. That’s certainly an improvement since 1363 when the first Under-Clerk of Parliament, Robert de Melton, took home £5 a year.