Parliamentary Officer

**Reference number**:
182327

**Salary**:
£27,266

London - £27,266

**Grade**:
Executive Officer

**Contract type**:
Permanent

**Business area**:
DHSC - Group Operations

**Type of role**:
Operational Delivery

**Working pattern**:
Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time

**Number of posts**:
3

Location

London

About the job

**Summary**:
In DHSC, we are proud of our purpose - to enable everyone to live more independent, healthier lives for longer. To achieve this, and create a great place to work, we have four values: we are inclusive, we constantly improve, we challenge and we are agile. If this sounds like an environment you’d like to work in, we’d love to hear from you.

The Parliamentary Affairs and Intelligence Team (PAIT) in the Department of Health and Social Care has several roles available for Parliamentary Officers, working with Parliamentary Questions (PQs), briefing and support for the Department’s parliamentary business and secondary legislation.

The Parliamentary Affairs and Intelligence team of around 30 staff sits in the Private Office, Intelligence and Parliamentary division, led by the Principal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. The team was established in 2019 to deliver enhanced parliamentary support and to work with Parliament in new ways to drive, shape and communicate DHSC policy.

DHSC supports ministers in leading the nation’s health and social care to help people live more independent, healthier lives for longer. It is responsible for delivering a wide variety of policies to protect and improve global and domestic health by tackling issues that are important to all of us, including public health, the NHS and social care. The importance of these functions is a constant, but they take on a particular significance as the Department remains at the forefront of the Government’s COVID-19 response.

**Job description**:
These are roles in the Parliamentary Affairs Team or Legislation Team in DHSC. These are fast-paced, high-performing teams that receive the most PQs across Whitehall, and some of the highest amounts of Parliamentary business The Parliamentary Affairs Team and Legislation Team deal with the Department of Health and Social Care’s parliamentary business, including oral and urgent questions, primary and secondary legislation, select committees and debates. We are also the point of contact for the Prime Minister’s Office, providing information and briefing for Prime Minister’s Questions and No.10’s parliamentary team.
- Working in the PQ Team to manage the allocation process for PQs tabled to the Department. You will be working with officials at all levels to commission PQ responses and liaising with the Table Offices and PQ teams in other government departments on the transfer of questions.
- Working to provide briefing to No. 10 for Prime Minister’s Questions and for the Leader of the House of Commons’ Business Statement. You will also commission briefing on debates for ministers in the House of Commons as well as e-petition responses, and lead on the Department’s business in the House of Lords.
- Working in the Legislation Team, providing support on the laying of secondary legislation and accompanying documents before Parliament, and the organisation and management of the secondary legislation programme. You will also support the management of private members’ bills.

You must have experience of working with ministers, Parliament or in a parliamentary role, or alternatively you must be able to show a demonstratable interest in politics and / or parliamentary affairs.

We are looking for people who are enthusiastic and are willing to learn and get up to speed quickly. You will need to be a proactive team-player, with great communication skills (written and verbal), have excellent attention to detail and be able to work at pace.

Additional hours may be required on a regular basis, for which overtime will be payable.

**Responsibilities**:
Responsibilities will depend on the specific role, but may include the below:

- Working closely with officials and ministerial private offices to ensure good quality answers for PQs are provided to Ministers in order to meet parliamentary deadlines
- Working closely with officials to provide correct and formatted information for No10, other government departments and ministers for use in debates.
- Providing support on the laying of secondary legislation and accompanying documents before Parliament, and the organisation and management of the secondary legislation programme

Key skills and experience required for the role:
Experience of working with ministers, Parliament or in a parliamentary role OR the ability to demonstrate an interest in politics and / or parliamentary affairs is essential.
- You communicate effectively, verbally and in writing, with a customer-focused attitude.
- You are able to work effectively with senior people, internally and external