Lively schedule for Lords during Parliament Week 2012

Members of the House of Lords will take part in a variety of activities throughout Parliament Week, please check back here during the week to find out what’s happening each day.

What's happening today?

• Lord Speaker visit to the North East (22 and 23 November) – The Lord Speaker will visit Newcastle for a range of activities, including a lecture and debate at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) North, a visit with Newcastle Science City and a talk and Q&A session with sixth form students at St Leonard’s RC School in Durham.
• Parliamentary debate with sixth formers to be held in Derby Cathedral on 23 November, hosted by the Bishop of Derby
• There will be up to 40 peers making Peers in Schools visits all around the country on Friday 23 November, including the 1,000th visit of the programme since its launch in 2007.

Lords activities and events for Parliament Week

Lord Speaker

The Lord Speaker, Baroness D’Souza, has taken part in a number of activities throughout the week:

• Lords of the Blog guest blog (19 November) – Check the Lords of the Blog website for the Lord Speaker’s take on Parliament Week in her guest blog
• Open Lecture: International Relations (21 November) – The Lord Speaker gave a lecture to university students and academics on international relations as part of Parliamentary Outreach’s Engagement with Universities programme, from 12.30pm
• Somewhere to Read (22 November) – The Lord Speaker read to children from London schools as part of the 'Somewhere to Read' initiative organised by the Public Engagement and Learning team and in support of the Volunteer Reading Help scheme.

Debate Mate pilot programme

On Monday 19 November, the House of Lords launched its pilot programme with the charity Debate Mate, which uses volunteer university students to mentor school students, encouraging them to develop debating skills. The initiative launch will be opened by the Lord Speaker.

• News: Lords works with Debate Mate to inspire students
• Debate Mate website

House of Lords social media launch

The House of Lords YouTube and Facebook channels have been launched today, with exclusive new content, including videos of members of the Lords explaining how their work contributes to UK democracy.

• House of Lords Facebook page
• House of Lords YouTube channel
• News: Follow the Lords on Facebook and YouTube

Discussion and debate

Members of the Lords will also be taking part in a number of debates and discussions throughout the week, including:

• Young Person's Question Time, 19 November, Portcullis House - Baroness Grey-Thompson took part in the debate with Adam Afriyie MP, Rushanara Ali MP and Simon Hughes MP on how the events of 2012 shaped the views of young people and how the politicians propose to address their concerns.
• Parliament Talks Constitution, 19 November - Lord Gordon of Strathblane and Lord Rennard, both members of the All Party Parliamentary Group on the British Constitution contributed to the discussion
• Leaders and Speechwriters, 21 November – a conversation between Dr Max Atkinson and Lord Ashdown
• From Walpole's Bottom to Cameron's Head: Making Fun of the Prime Ministers - a talk by Vice Chairman of the Cartoon Museum, Lord Baker on 22 November at the Cartoon Museum.
• John Smith Memorial Mace 2012: Media Regulation Debate, 25 November - Chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, Lord Hunt of the Wirral, will chair the panel of judges

Further information

• Learn more about Parliament Week
• Parliament Week events