ParliON at House of Commons

ParliON is the Parliament Opportunity Network, a Workplace Equality Network (WEN) to promote inclusion and equality of opportunity across Parliament, and to raise awareness of issues around socio-economic inclusion.

Why were we formed?

ParliON was formed in 2017 after significant preparatory work was undertaken by a founding team, including the Chairs Margaret McKinnon from the House of Commons and Emily Baldock from the House of Lords.

ParliON is the newest WEN and it works alongside the four existing WEN’s which address the protected characteristics of Gender (Parliagender), Sexuality (ParliOut), Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage (ParliREACH) and disability (ParliAble).

While protection against discrimination based on social-economic status or background is not protected in legislation, there is a growing recognition of the importance of encouraging social mobility both as an end to itself and to ensure organisations make the most the talents of all of their staff. ParliOn will help the administrations of both Houses rise to that challenge.

ParliOn’s first AGM was held on 27 February 2017 where the group elected an executive committee and agreed its founding objectives.

Our objectives

• To raise awareness of issues related to social mobility;
• To create a supportive and inclusive environment;
• To promote equality of opportunity for all, whatever their socio-economic background

What will ParliOn do?

The Network aims to create a supportive environment for people from less-advantaged socio-economic backgrounds by identifying, and working to remove, barriers to opportunities for staff and raising awareness of issues related to social mobility.

Part of this work will include identifying barriers to social mobility that may not seem obvious and helping senior leaders understand those barriers and work with them to remove them.

ParliON aims to promote inclusion, equality of opportunity across Parliament, and to raise awareness of issues around socio-economic inclusion.

The network will support its Members and strive to create an inclusive working environment by providing guidance, social, educational and networking opportunities to all staff and Members of both Houses of Parliament

We are outward facing

ParliOn looks out to the wider world and will seek to cooperate and collaborate with organisations outside Parliament with an interest in, and experience of, promoting social mobility. To get involved in our work please email [email protected]