The Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives is a New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 Public Sector Organisation.

The Office of the Clerk is the legislature

Legislature

A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...

’s secretariat. It provides specialist advice on procedure and parliamentary law and secretariat services. The Office of the Clerk is a politically independent organisation, providing services to Parliament

New Zealand House of Representatives

The New Zealand House of Representatives is the sole chamber of the legislature of New Zealand. The House and the Queen of New Zealand form the New Zealand Parliament....

, as distinct from services to the Government

Governments of New Zealand

The Government of New Zealand , formally Her Majesty's Government in New Zealand, is based on the Westminster system of responsible government...

, and providing services to members in their parliamentary roles rather than in their party

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 or electorate

New Zealand electorates

An electorate is a voting district for elections to the Parliament of New Zealand. In informal discussion, electorates are often called seats. The most formal description, electoral district, is rarely seen outside of electoral legislation. Before 1996, all Members of Parliament were directly...

 capacities.

Although the Office of the Clerk’s primary client group is members of Parliament and its principal relationships are with the Speaker

Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives

In New Zealand the Speaker of the House of Representatives is the individual who chairs the country's legislative body, the New Zealand House of Representatives...

, with other presiding officers, and with committee chairs, it also deals with office holders such as the Leader of the House, party leaders, and party whips

Whip (politics)

A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...

, and with members’ staff.

The Office of the Clerk carries out the functions required under section 3 of the Clerk of the House of Representatives Act 1988, which provides that:

“The functions of the Clerk of the House of Representatives shall be—

(a) to note all proceedings of the House of Representatives and of any committee of the House:

(b) to carry out such duties and exercise such powers as may be conferred on the Clerk of the House of Representatives by law or by the Standing Orders and practice of the House of Representatives:

(c) to act as the principal officer of the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives and, in that capacity, to manage that office efficiently, effectively, and economically:

(d) to ensure that staff of the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives carry out their duties (including duties imposed on them by law or by the Standing Orders or practice of the House of Representatives) and maintain—

(i) proper standards of integrity and conduct; and

(ii) concern for the public interest:

(e) to be responsible, under the direction of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, for the official reporting of the proceedings of the House of Representatives and its committees.”