Annual Report and Accounts 2017–18 1 Annual Report and Accounts 2017– 18 The HOUSE of COMMONS: Administration Annual Report and Accounts 2017–18 (for the year ended 31 March 2018) Presented to the House of Commons pursuant to Section 1(3) of the House of Commons (Administration) Act 1978 and section 3 (as amended) of the House of Commons (Administration) Act 1978 Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 23 July 2018 Published by Authority of the House of Commons HC 1381 © Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2018 This publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament Licence, which is published at www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright . Performance Report 01 p6 Accountability Report 02. p44 Financial Statements 03. p88 Annual Report of the Administration Estimate Audit . and Risk Assurance Committee 04 p120 Annual Report and Accounts 2017–18 Performance Report 6 0 1 Performance Report Overview 8 Performance Analysis 18 © UK Parliament/Mark Duffy Annual Report and Accounts 2017–18 Performance Report 8 Performance Report Overview Foreword by the Clerk of the House The new Parliament had just begun when there was an attempted cyber-attack on our computer network. On The past 12 months have been particularly challenging 23 June 2017, the Digital Service discovered unusual for the House Service. During this time, several of the activity and closer investigation confirmed that hackers risks we had identified have materialised. We have were carrying out a sustained and determined cyber- addressed the consequences and sought to learn attack in an attempt to identify weak passwords and lessons from these events. This should help us to gain access to users emails. Significantly fewer than 1% mitigate risks in future and to better prepare ourselves of the 9,000 accounts on the parliamentary network to deal with handling similar incidents. I am delighted were compromised as a result of weak passwords. but not surprised that staff responded so effectively, This successful defence from a cyber-attack has been and that our overall level of performance has been enabled by the actions taken in the past few years maintained but there is still room for improvement in within the Cyber Security Programme. An independent the way we deliver our services. review reported positively that Parliament’s cyber On 22 March 2017, Westminster was the target security capability had significantly improved compared of a terrorist attack which resulted in the death of with three years before. The review also identified some five members of the public, and of PC Keith Palmer areas for improvement. within the Parliamentary Estate. On that day, and the In the autumn, following a number of allegations of days that followed, staff across the House Service bullying and harassment, including sexual harassment, showed their professionalism, calmness and courage. concerning Members and Members’ staff, the cross- Following the attack, the Speakers of the two Houses party Working Group on an Independent Complaints commissioned an external independent review of how and Grievance Policy was established to tackle the perimeter of the Parliamentary Estate is secured these issues. In February the House endorsed the and protected. The recommendations of the review are recommendations of the Working Group, since when being implemented, with many being achieved through work which includes the establishment of a Behaviour a Security Programme which has been prioritised. In Code for Parliament, an independent complaints and addition, the operation during and after the attack of grievance scheme to underpin the Code, and a system Parliament’s Incident Management Framework was of training to support the Code, has been ongoing and externally reviewed and action has been taken to is reporting regularly to a steering group of Members. implement the recommendations. The House of Commons Commission established an The announcement of a snap General Election in April Independent Inquiry into the bullying of House staff, 2017 came as a surprise, and managing the impact of following the testimony on the BBC’s Newsnight the election, with little preparation or planning time, programme of some of our own serving or retired staff. was a substantial challenge. This challenge was met by I am determined that we will learn from where things all parts of the House Service, who responded to it with have gone wrong in the past to make the House a enthusiasm, working together to deliver a good start workplace that is free of bullying and harassment, and to the new Parliament for new and returning Members where all are treated with dignity and respect. alike. In particular, the New Members’ Reception Area, I am naturally disappointed that for the seventh which operated in the first week after the election, successive year, the Head of Internal Audit has only demonstrated what can be achieved by colleagues been able to offer a limited opinion in relation to the across the House working together to deliver the best level of assurance. This is due to the acknowledged possible service to our Members. All staff involved continuing weaknesses in the governance, risk in delivering the post-election service, in whatever management, and control framework, which impairs capacity, should be rightly proud of their achievements. Performance Report Annual Report and Accounts 2017–18 9 The past 12 months have been particularly challenging for the House Service ... Thanks to the efforts of staff ... our overall level of performance has been maintained. our effectiveness and has understandably led to this opinion. I note that this year it was a marginal decision that resulted in a limited opinion, which recognises that there are signs of improvement. However, more progress has to be made, and all staff are striving to make the cultural changes we have asked of them. As these embed in the coming year, our aim is to achieve a moderate opinion next year. The events I have described above have attracted a lot of attention over the past year, but it is important to reiterate that, thanks to the efforts of staff, often in challenging circumstances, business as usual activity has continued and the House’s decision-making processes have operated effectively. New and returning Members have been able to set up their offices and perform their duties, and throughout the year, Members have been ably supported in their role by the existing services of the House. The focus of House business this year has been the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. The Research and Information Team have compiled research briefings and obtained up-to-date material to inform debate on the very broad range of topics that are affected by Brexit, while Select Committees have held numerous inquiries and published reports on the impact of Brexit in their subject areas. This authoritative information has also been made available to the public via the UK Parliament website. The EU (Withdrawal) Act has been appropriately dealt with by Parliament, which has required much expertise from our Chamber Team and other teams. This is not the end of the Brexit process; our main task for the year ahead is to provide ongoing support to the House and its Members as the process continues. Sir David Natzler KCB, Clerk of the House, House of Commons Annual Report and Accounts 2017–18 Performance Report 10 © UK Parliament/Mark Duffy © UK Parliament/Mark The changes we have put in place this year ... will improve how we deliver services in years to come. Performance Report Annual Report and Accounts 2017–18 11 Introduction by the Director General to set up a Sponsor Board and Delivery Authority, Over the past year we as a House Service have faced initially in shadow form, before the necessary legislation many pressures in delivering our mission of supporting is enacted. This presents further challenges for our a thriving parliamentary democracy. As an organisation governance, making it essential that we increase the we have had to start recovering from the five terrorist pace of improvement to our framework of governance, attacks which hit the UK in 2017, including the risk management and control. Westminster attack in March, and rethink how we In addition to Restoration and Renewal, our staff are protect those on our Estate. This year our staff have also undertaking several projects to maintain the Palace of supported Parliament during the snap General Election, Westminster before it is possible to decant. We have dealt with a sustained cyber-attack and subsequent made much progress on the renovation of Elizabeth reprioritisation, and begun enacting the decision by Tower, one of the UK’s most famous landmarks, and both Houses on the Restoration and Renewal of the with the conservation of Westminster Hall, the oldest Palace of Westminster. More recently the issues raised in part of the Parliamentary Estate. There are many relation to bullying and harassment have highlighted the improvements that can be made to the Estate, but given importance of our commitment to providing a working both the limited capacity to deliver a large number environment that is fair to all and where everyone is of capital projects at one time, and a world in which treated with respect and dignity. Meanwhile, throughout Parliament has over a million visitors a year, it has been the year, we have also been addressing the recognised decided that only those projects which improve security, weaknesses in our management and governance fire safety or health and safety should proceed. processes, which inhibit our effectiveness. The performance of our staff has had to meet these During 2017–18 we placed a particular emphasis on our challenges as they arose over the year. The House Service customers, our staff and the ways in which we work.