Reward and recognition payments made to IPSA staff

Specifically, you asked for information on:

• the level of reward and recognition payments made to all IPSA staff; and

• copies of the citations submitted by their line manager on the piece of work to which the award relates.

The table provided in Annex A below provides the requested information.

Please note that for reward and recognition payments made in 2010 we, with one exception, hold only the financial details and not the accompanying written citation. IPSA staff can be nominated for recognition by any of their colleagues.

Annex A

Citation

1. [Name redacted] took on the job of managing Freedom of Information requests some months ago. The intention was for her to take on a co-ordinating role where she would assign FOI requests to individuals who would present [Name redacted] with a finished product.

2. In the few months in which IPSA has been operational, we have received around 90 FOI requests – many more than anticipated – and [Name redacted] has taken on far greater ownership of these than initially envisaged, including scrutinising the questions, considering how the Act should be applied, challenging responses provided by colleagues and tenaciously chasing colleagues for responses in order to meet the 20 working day deadline.

3. [Name redacted]  has also taken the lead on drafting the responses to the requests and carrying out the time-consuming work of collating and redacting information due to be released – tasks over and above her original remit.

4. [Name redacted] has worked on some very challenging – and politically charged – cases, and has exercised good judgement when advising colleagues on appropriate responses.

5. [Name redacted] has carried out all these tasks despite the amount of her time taken up by these requests without allowing her other duties to slip – often by working very long hours. Thanks to her efforts, our response times – and overall management of FOI cases – are in a much better place than might otherwise have been the case and [Name redacted]  has consequently contributed significantly to IPSA’s key objective of openness, which is central to IPSA’s good reputation.

Citation

They are constantly working extremely hard in the scanning room, and deliver well under pressure without complaint. Both were hardworking and diligent during the Christmas period – and they still have a smile on their face throughout!

Citation

I would like to nominate [Name redacted] for an “Outstanding Achievement Award.”

On 3 February 2011, IPSA published for the first time a list of repayments that were made by MPs.

The work leading up to the successful publication of this was immense. Under enormous time pressure to meet the looming publication deadline, [Name redacted] undertook the task of managing the process to reconcile repayments to claims and check the amounts were correct.

Under pressure, [Name redacted] worked with colleagues to undertake the difficult and meticulous task of identifying which claims had been repaid by MPs. With little accounting and validation experience, [Name redacted] went above and beyond the call of duty, going line-by-line through numerous claims to check that the correct repayment was allocated to the correct expense claims.

[Name redacted] also managed the process to ensure that the publication of repayments was consistent with our publication policy. As this was the first time that repayments had been published, [Name redacted] skilfully managed a number of sensitive issues, such as the removal of a cheque from publication.

[Name redacted] also managed the work to identify cheques with issues, resolving them on a case-by-case basis which led to the development of a ‘repayments’ spreadsheet which was ultimately published. [Name redacted] should be very proud of the fact that the work he published was accurate, and that his recommended layout of repayments was approved by the Publication Board with few amendments.

This example clearly demonstrates [Name redacted]’s willingness to go above and beyond, resulting in the first and successful delivery of publishing repayments, thereby satisfying the requirements for the “Individual Achievement Award.”

Citation

I would like to nominate [Name redacted] for an “Outstanding Achievement Award.”

[Name redacted] has been critical to the successful delivery of the second cycle of publication. In particular, [Name redacted]’s focus on managing the Publication Website has been of note. He has worked under unexpected pressure to deliver the following pieces of work:

1. Following the first publication cycle the website needed significant changes to become ‘fit-for-purpose’ to publish claims that were not reimbursed after the grace period. This was a complex piece of work which was delivered on time and on budget having no knowledge of website development or maintenance. Without technical expertise, [Name redacted] recommended a programme of work to successfully deliver website changes to reflect publication policy. It is worthwhile to note that there were no public criticisms of the layout of not paid claims – all of which had been [Name redacted]’s recommendations.

2. On the night before publishing the 2nd tranche of expenses, a late decision was taken which meant that [Name redacted] had to stay until 11pm and return to work at 6am to successfully load up the data before the go live time. At 7am, technical errors were discovered and [Name redacted] calmly and efficiently ensured that the errors were corrected by our suppliers. Publication went live at the right time.

I trust these examples demonstrate the outstanding quality of work that [Name redacted] has produced over the past 2 months.

Citation

The Website. Need I say more?!

[Name redacted]  has done an amazing job:

• picking up work on the new website at the end of February with no notice and with real enthusiasm;

• working extremely hard to co-ordinate all the disparate parties involved and ensure that sensible pragmatic decisions were reached;

• putting the vast amounts of information onto the website;

• troubleshooting, fixing problems; and

• making the new website a reality.

All of this was above and beyond the call. A stellar performance. Thank you [Name redacted].

Citation

Can I nominate [Name redacted]?

Bit tricky to get corroboration as there was only him and me at the time in the room from IPSA.

[Name redacted] was dragged into an impromptu session with the NAO VFM people and gave a tremendously lucid and compelling description of what payroll did. He was detailed, knowledgeable and personable and significantly impressed the auditors (and me!). He clearly knew his stuff and was a great ambassador for the organisation.