A: Application Form T: Test If Applicable

Job Description Job Title Temporary Job Reference Hansard Reporter – Department Official Report Band As appropriate (Hansard)

Salary Range £14 per hour whilst training and £23 per hour thereafter Please complete the House of Lords application form and the test (at the bottom of the job description)

Scope of the Job Background There are vacancies for temporary Hansard Reporters to work in the House of Lords Office of the Official Report and the House of Commons Official Report Office on a casual basis. The Houses have agreed to recruit a common pool of casual staff.

In the Lords, the Official Report (Hansard) is the edited verbatim report of proceedings in the Lords Chamber and Grand Committees, together with the text of all Written Statements and Written Answers. It is also responsible for reports of all Select Committee sittings. The Editor is the ultimate editorial authority for some of the House of Lords’ most important working documents.

Committee reporting in the Commons involves producing edited verbatim reports of proceedings in Public Bill Committees, General Committees, Select Committees and occasionally Westminster Hall.

Main Objective The key objectives are to provide accurate first draft transcripts of all the relevant proceedings.

Key Internal & External Members of the Hansard Teams Relationships Peers Main Responsibilities Management Responsibility This role has no management responsibility

The post will have responsibilities in the following areas:  Reporters are responsible for producing the first draft transcripts of all relevant proceedings as requested.  Reporters should be prepared to take sole responsibility for logging sections of debate in the House of Lords for themselves or for colleagues. In the Commons, reporters will work from a subeditor’s log.  Transcription is done by typing from a digital audio feed accompanied by a log, which might have been written by you or produced by a colleague. Voice recognition is available in the Lords as an alternative to typing.  All transcripts must be produced to very tight deadlines. Accuracy, speed and readability are the key criteria for all Hansard copy. Copy should be grammatically accurate and produced in accordance with the Hansard terms of reference set out by the 1907 Select Committee on Parliamentary Reporting. All names, quotations and references must be rigorously checked. Any queries or ambiguities need to be resolved by the reporter and all procedure must be recorded accurately before copy is sent to the sub-editors.  Reporters are required to edit Select Committee copy as necessary

Person Specification Qualifications Applicants should be educated to at least GCSE standard (Grades A-C) or equivalent, including English Language and Mathematics.

Essential Assesse Desirable Assessed d A sound knowledge of the A/I/T An understanding of how I English language, excellent Parliament works general knowledge; a keen interest in current affairs and the Relevant experience of reporting A/I/T ability to quickly grasp a wide and editing verbatim speech in a variety of subjects; Parliament or similar environment; Good IT skills, including A/I/T (Moved from essential) familiarity with MS Word;

Reliability under pressure and a A/I/T willingness to work unsocial hours; A/T Good written and oral communication skills Strong team working skills. A/I

Assessment Method Code: A: Application Form T: Test if applicable I: Interview Q: Qualification proof

Terms & Conditions Salary & Allowances Temporary Hansard Reporters are paid £14 whilst training (Up to a maximum of £100 per day) and £23 thereafter once trained.

Term The post is offered on two year fixed-term a zero hours basis. Probation There is a probation period of nine months.

Pension Employees have the opportunity to join the pension scheme at either the Commons or the Lords which is analogous with the Civil Service Pension Scheme

Hours There are no conditioned hours for this post, work will be available as and when required. The work will be between Monday to Friday and working hours are dependent on the sitting patterns of the Houses and their committees but currently they are from 2 pm on Mondays to Wednesdays, from 10.30 am on Thursdays and from 9.30 am on Fridays in the Lords. In the Commons, the likely hours are Tuesday to Thursday from 10.30 am. Benefits Interest-free season ticket loan; Childcare Vouchers; Eye Care Vouchers; reasonably priced In-House gym; access to Safety, Health & Wellbeing service Annual Leave Annual leave entitlement will be accrued up to a maximum of 30 days in the Lords and 28 days in the Commons days per annum pro rata (increasing with length of service) plus public and Bank Holidays on a pro-rata basis. Annual Leave must normally be taken when Parliament is in recess.

Equal Opportunities The House of Commons and the House of Lords are committed to equal opportunities. Applications are welcome from all qualified individuals irrespective of gender, marital status, age, race, colour, disability, religious affiliation or sexual orientation.

Application & Selection Appointment depends on satisfactory references and health and security checks.

Base Line Security Standard:

The Houses of Parliament (along with all government departments) have to comply with a Baseline Security Standard. The standard requires that we ascertain the identity of an applicant, their right to work in the UK and their employment (or academic history) over the last three years. Also, applicants are required to give a reasonable account of any significant recent periods of time spent abroad (over six months). Applicants who have been unemployed or self-employed for over six months in the last three years (so the last three years employment/academic history cannot be verified by references) will be asked to provide some further documentation to prove their history.

Return Applications For positions in both the House of lords and the  Human Resources Office, House of House of Commons please complete the House Lords, London SW1A 0PW of Lords application form, and test, by 12 noon  If you wish to email your application on 18 February 2011 to form, please send it to [email protected]

Please ensure that you complete the attached test and return it with your application form.

If you have not heard from us by mid March, you must assume you have not been shortlisted on this occasion. Please note we do not accept any hand delivered applications for security reasons. No agencies please.

TEST (Please return the completed test with the your application form)

Please correct all the errors of fact, spelling, grammar and punctuation in the following passage— bearing in mind that these exchanges are entirely fictional. Do not rewrite or edit extensively: just get rid of the errors.

Imaginary Member A: Will the Minister congratulate my constituent, the rap artist Mr Tinchy Strider, for the chart success of his new album.

Imaginary Minister: I cannot promise the Horse that I will have time for that, as I have to make a statement on the situation in Tunisia following the ousting of President Bin Ali, and I am also terribly busy filling in forms for the new, parliamentary expences body, IPSOS.

Imaginary Member A: Perhaps the Minister needs some help from a firm of provisional auditors such as PricewaterhouseCoopers. May I pint him in their general direction? Imaginary Minister: I thank the hon. Gentleman for his suggestion, but when I need financial advice I will contact a registered independant financial advisor.

Imaginary Member B: What discussions has the Minister had with the Money Policy Committee of the Bank of England about an increase in interest rates, and does he agree with Melvyn King or with Dr Sentence on the matter?

Imaginary Minister: It would be entirely misappropriate for me to make any comment. The MPC is an independent body and must make it’s own decision.

Imaginary Member B: But the retail price index suggests that inflation is getting out of hand. Surely a raise in interest rates is now called for?

Imaginary Minister: That is as maybe. The MPC are right in their approach

Imaginary Member C: Does the Minister agree with Lady Varsi that Islamphobia has become respectable, or is the Prime Minster right to say that Muslim groups that fail to condemn extremism are being “showered with public money?”

Imaginary Minister: I am happy to say to the hon. Gentleman that I agree with both; there is nothing incompatible about those two prepositions.