Speech: The legislation game

Hayley Rogers, Office of the Parliamentary Counsel

Scratching my head over how to interest civil servants in a training course on the legislative process, I hit on the idea of creating a board game that would lead players through the process, from initial ministerial bright idea to fully implemented Act of Parliament.

For the uninitiated, this journey can often feel rather like an arcane game of snakes and ladders, so a board game seemed like the ideal way of bringing it to life. We were up against a deadline, so I drew the board freehand, and a group of us pooled our collective war stories on bills to come up with some realistic “chance” cards that would send players backwards or forwards through the process.

And so “Legislate?!” was born… that was four years ago, and since then it has been played by hundreds of civil servants at training events, along with students visiting Parliament and members of the public during Parliament Week. It has proved a popular and engaging way of helping people to understand the legislative process, with many comments along the lines of “It’s surprising anything ever makes it into law!”.

For some time now we’ve been asked whether we could make the game more widely available, and one player who came along to last year’s Parliament Week event just happened to work for GDS. Terence Eden offered us his expertise to turn the hand-drawn board into something digital, and the cards instructions for players and background information for facilitators into something printable.

You can access everything you need to play “Legislate?!”. If you have feedback, we’d love to hear from you.

Office of the Parliamentary Counsel colleagues



News story: Small cloud tech businesses in line for funding boost

The Minister for Implementation, Oliver Dowden MP, has today (Tuesday 6th March 2018) announced that a new version of the G-Cloud procurement framework will open for bids in April, allowing new companies to join the framework – after delivering £1.4bn of spend to small businesses since its inception.

The decision to release a new version of the framework will support new companies, including small businesses, to supply to government, while also giving current suppliers the opportunity to update their service offer and pricing.

Companies will be able to bid to join the framework from April. G-Cloud 10 could eventually be worth £600 million.

G-Cloud gives central government, local councils, NHS Trusts and other public sector bodies a way to purchase cloud-based services such as web hosting from a single, central website.

Oliver Dowden, Minister for Implementation, said:

I’m pleased to confirm that we will re-let the G-Cloud framework, which provides opportunities to many small businesses in the digital sector. This will provide innovative online solutions to government, supporting the delivery of efficient, effective public services. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, so it’s crucial that we listen to them when shaping policy, as we have done today.

Rob Driver, Head of Public Sector at Tech UK, the industry trade body for technology companies across the UK, said:

For the UK Government to deliver its ambitious vision of being world-leading in the next wave of digital government transformation it must embrace the full diversity and strengths of UK tech suppliers, and innovative procurement vehicles such as G-cloud will be fundamental to achieving this vision. The announcement of the G-Cloud 10 Framework should be welcomed as it allows new innovative providers to work with government, enables new services to be provided and is an opportunity to engage with the wider public sector to make use of the framework.

The current version of the framework has 2,856 suppliers, over 90% of which are SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises). The framework is expected to go live in June.

To find out more about G-Cloud, visit the Digital Marketplace.



Notice: SG17 5QB, Myfresh Prepared Produce Limited: environmental permit application advertisement

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Notice: IP21 4QF, Mr Duncan West and Mrs Claire West: environmental permit application advertisement

The Environment Agency consults the public on certain applications for waste operations, mining waste operations, installations, water discharge and groundwater activities. The arrangements are explained in its Public Participation Statement

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News story: Defence Secretary reaffirms commitment to Daesh’s total defeat in meeting with Iraqi counterpart

Royal Air Force Typhoons flying over the middle East in support of Operation Shader. Crown copyright.

There will be no respite in UK operations against Daesh until we can guarantee their absolute defeat, the Defence Secretary reassured his Iraqi counterpart, Erfan al-Hiyali, in a meeting in London today.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

We will not rest until we hammer the final nail in the terrorists’ coffin.

While Daesh’s territory is diminishing, the threat they pose to our security at home and abroad through their evil and barbaric beliefs remains stark. That is why RAF jets continue to strike them in Iraq and Syria to eliminate the threat they pose to our way of life.

The importance of continued RAF activity was echoed by Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier, who said:

With Daesh losing control of its last remaining pockets of territory, they are once more looking purely like the terrorist organisation they are. Yet the threat they pose within the region and more widely across the world remains.

As we have discovered in previous conflicts, if we let up, then we run the risk that Daesh will return. It is vital that we stay the course, alongside our allies, until the job is done.

In the past three weeks, RAF Typhoons, Tornados and Reapers have destroyed armoured vehicles, terrorist bases, weapon stores and disrupted supply routes.

On Wednesday 14 February Typhoons destroyed a mechanical excavator, used by the terrorists to construct fortified positions near the Euphrates river in eastern Syria. Operations continued in eastern Syria on Friday 16 February, Typhoons and Tornado’s provided close air support to Syrian Democratic Forces engaged in ground close combat with Daesh fighters, destroying five terrorist positons.

An RAF Reaper patrolled over the Euphrates on Tuesday 20 February, striking armed terrorists, including a pair on a motorcycle moving at high speed. On Wednesday 28 February, Typhoons attacked two Daesh armoured vehicles north-east of Abu Kamal. A second Typhoon flight destroyed a key road in the area, which will prevent the terrorists from moving heavy truck-bombs and equipment along it.

On Saturday 3 March, Typhoons demolished four Daesh buildings close to the border with Iraq. On Sunday 4 March, a Typhoon destroyed a tunnel used by the terrorists as a weapons cache, located in a remote area in northern Iraq.

RAF aircraft have carried out nearly 1,700 strikes against Daesh in Iraq and Syria since 2014. The UK have deployed Reaper UAVs, Typhoon jets and Tornados, have conducted significant ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) missions and have provided additional air support such as inflight refuelling and transporting.

The UK is working to secure Daesh’s lasting defeat by cooperating with legitimate local authorities towards a stable, prosperous and united future for affected communities in both Iraq and Syria and ensuring that Daesh must not be allowed to re-emerge.