Introducing our New Clerk of the House – Roger Sands

Roger Sands was appointed as the new Clerk of the House in December. His role encompasses:

• Head of the Clerk's Department – made up of over 260 staff

• Chair of the Board of Management - comprising the heads of all the six House Departments

• House Chief Executive – the Clerk of the House has been designated this since the Braithwaite Review of 1999

• Accounting Officer - responsible for expenditure on House administration and works - currently around £140m. a year - and for the expenditure on Members' salaries and allowances

• Corporate Officer - signs contracts on behalf of the House.

His career highlights to date include two long spells in the Public Bill Office, as a young Clerk in 1970-75 and as head of the office from 1994 to 2000. In the mid-80s he served as Secretary to the House of Commons Commission, a post that provided him with invaluable experience of House administration and working with the Speaker and other senior politicians.

You can read a detailed interview with the Clerk of the House in the new look staff magazine produced by the Office of the Clerk called In House, - out on 10 February 2003.