Number of staff employed by MPs since May 2010

Request

I would like to know how many members of staff each MP has taken on since the 2010 general election please.


Response

IPSA holds the information that you request and this is provided at the attached Annex. 

The Annex lists, by MP, the total number of staff for whom, since 2010, contracts have been registered and payments processed through IPSA’s payroll system. It does not, of course, equate to or give any indication of the number of staff employed by an MP at any one time:  as well as permanent members of staff, the number includes any short-term staff taken on, for example, to provide paternity, maternity or sickness cover, part-time as well as full-time staff and apprentices and interns whose employment conditions have fulfilled the conditions set out in paragraphs 7.8 and 7.9 of the Scheme.  In addition, it may also include any staff who have since left an MP’s employment or whose contract has come to an end.  It does not, therefore, provide a basis for calculating how many staff members are currently employed.

You will be aware that the MPs’ Scheme of Business Costs and Expenses (‘the Scheme’) states that ‘Staffing Expenditure may be claimed to meet the cost incurred in the provision of staff to assist with the performance of an MP's parliamentary functions.’  You may also be aware that the details of annual staffing expenditure is available on our website.

Ref:
FOI2013-A161
Disclosure:
25 February 2013
Categories:
MPs' STAFFING
Exemptions Applied:
None