There are various parts of Parliament that could be deemed crucial to the functioning of the place, but perhaps none quite so much as the House Office.
There are various parts of Parliament that could be deemed crucial to the functioning of the place, but perhaps none quite so much as the House Office.
It's part of the Clerk's department and is usually a hive of activity, particularly when the House is sitting.
"I'd describe us as a hub of information that the House requires to do the work of Parliament," explained Pav Sharma, the Manager of the House Office.
"So we're a central point for the papers that ministers present to the House to inform other members, a really pivotal part of the accountability that ministers have to the House. And you also get a real sense of just the vast amount of work done by the public sector, because a lot of that information passes through the House, and enables all members to scrutinise the activities of government."
Every sitting day the House Office processes questions, papers and reports that come in, while preparing special documents to give the presiding officers, the Speaker of Parliament, as well as the chairpersons of select committees, the information and specific words they need to conduct their business.
Drill Sheet
If it weren't for the House Office, MPs might turn up to the chamber and be left clueless about what to do. In addition to working through the aforementioned items and papers, the Office prepares what it calls a Drill Sheet for each sitting day.
"It's a kind of script that enables the right motions, the right questions, the right votes to be put at the right time, so that the procedures are followed properly, because we always want to ensure that when the House is debating for example legislation that it's following the proper processes of the standing orders, so that there can never be any doubt that a bill is properly considered by the House, that it's been read a first time or a second time or a third time, and that it has been appropriately passed by the House," Sharma said.
When the House is to sit, various key documents are required by the Speaker and presiding officers in order to conduct the business of Parliament.
"I guess the most important one is probably the Order Paper which is effectively the agenda for the House. What that does is actually set out the first six, seven or eight items of business that the government, on a Government Day, or if it's Member's Day, the Members Bills or Private and Local bills that are going be considered by the House on any particular day," Sharma said…