Decisions 26 November 2007

Present:

The Speaker, in the Chair
Sir Stuart Bell
Nick Harvey
Mr David Maclean
Mrs Theresa May

1. JOINT DEPARTMENTS: PICT

The Commission approved the establishment of PICT as a joint department of both Houses under the Parliament (Joint Departments) Act 2007 from 1 April 2008. It was agreed that the division of costs (80/20) with the Lords would be kept under review.

2. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY

The Commission agreed the draft response to the Administration Committee's report on Information and Communication Technology Services for Members. They noted that any funding for an extended service for constituency offices would have to be agreed by the House at a later stage after costed options had been considered by the MEC.

It was noted that, in accordance with the recommendations of the Tebbit review, the Cabinet Office Independent Reviewer and Central Sponsor for Information Assurance would be invited to conduct a health check of Parliamentary IT plans and delivery.

3. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

The Commission noted the imminent publication of the SSRB report.

It was agreed to decide at the next meeting on the proposal to transfer from the Treasury to the House the funding of the four international parliamentary groups. The submission should make clear that, under a grant-in-aid arrangement, the staff of the four groups would not become staff of the House.