Last updated 14 February 2012
Added: 12 December 2011
Caseworkers – are you missing out?
The Commons Library has a wonderful resource for caseworkers but a little bird tells us at W4MP that many of you are not using it or maybe you haven’t heard about it. It is the Constituency Casework Toolkit and it’s just for you – the clue is in the name! Have a look through the page below and you may be surprised and delighted to learn just how much is there for you.
Most of the links below are to parliamentary intranet pages so, you need to be logged in in order to access them.
Constituency casework toolkit
This page brings together resources that will help caseworkers with a range of frequently raised topics:
http://intranet.parliament.uk/research-online/research/constituency-casework/.
The Commons Library can provide impartial background information on issues raised by constituents and advise on where else you can find help. They cannot provide legal advice on specific cases.
Casework guides
Advice and background information for dealing with specific areas of casework, produced by the Commons Library.
· Direct payments for social care in England
· Immigration, nationality and asylum
· NHS complaints procedures in England
· Planning
· Training
If you want to discuss any issues with the authors of these guides, you can find their contact details in the staff directory. For information on other subjects, contact the Library (x3666).
These are the latest versions we have been able to find of government guides. Some look like they need updating but, meanwhile, they remain useful.
· Information for Members of Parliament about prison and probation
Where constituents can find legal help
· Legal help: where to go and how to pay
Where to seek legal help or advice in England and Wales.
· Legal advice and employment matters
Outlines the help or legal advice available when involved in employment disputes.
· Mediation and other alternatives to court
Options for settling civil disputes without the need for a formal court hearing.
· Taking a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights
How to take a complaint forward and what cases the European Court of Human Rights can deal with.
· Find your nearest Citizens Advice Bureau (external website)
Useful contacts
· Hotlines for MPs, AMs, MSPs, MEPs and their staff. These frequently updated hotline numbers can help you get a quick response from government agencies. Do not disclose these numbers to members of the public or to staff in other agencies.
· List of ministerial responsibilities (Cabinet Office website)
· Find a telephone helpline (external website)
Database of over 1,000 helplines in the UK and Ireland, providing advice on a range of issues.
· Directgov (external website)
This site provides constituents with information and access to a range of public services.
About the constituency
· Local area and constituency statistics
Data on subjects such as unemployment, population and crime in your local area or constituency.
Casework in context
· Whose constituent are they? Use the Find your MP tool.
· Constituency etiquette
Looks at the conventions that have developed as a result of the relationship between individual Members and their constituencies.
· Data Protection advice for Members and their staff
Intranet page containing information on Data Protection produced by the Library and the Information Rights and Information Security Service (IRIS) for the House of Commons
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