Bulletin, 13 April (Scheme consultation, Market review, Year-end 2022-23, Disability assistance funding and Call for research participants)

Date published: 13 April 2023

Scheme consultation

IPSA has launched a consultation on proposed changes to The Scheme of MPs’ Staffing and Business Costs (‘the Scheme’).

The Scheme sets out the rules, eligibility and budgets governing MPs’ business costs.

We are keen to hear the views of MPs, their staff and our wider stakeholders on these changes and how best they should be implemented.

The anticipated changes to UK parliamentary constituency boundaries and the repeal of the Fixed Term Parliaments Act impact the eligibility rules for both the Loss of Office payments and the winding-up payments made to MPs who leave Parliament.

We are proposing changes to the Scheme which would clarify the eligibility rules and ensure that they are fair and provide the appropriate support to MPs leaving Parliament.

The consultation also asks some more general questions about the support provided to MPs and their staff when leaving Parliament.

View the full consultation document on our website.

How to respond

You can use our quick and easy online survey.

You can also email consultation@theipsa.org.uk if you prefer.

Please submit your response by 11.59pm on 2 June 2023.

Market review of MPs’ staff pay and recommendations for 2023-24

IPSA establishes the framework for MPs’ staff to be employed and paid appropriately – including template contracts, job descriptions and standard pay ranges – and provides a budget to each individual MP as the employer.

It is up to the MP how they choose to employ staff, into which roles and the level of salary, within that framework. In setting out the standard pay ranges, one of the main principles for IPSA is that MPs’ staff are paid fairly, in recognition of the roles that they do.

To ensure this, IPSA has committed to undertake a periodic market review of salaries. There were market reviews in 2016 and 2019 with another one conducted last year.

Read the Market review of MPs’ staff pay and recommendations for 2023-24.

Year-end 2022-23

The 2022-23 financial year has now ended.

If you need to complete a Year-end Form please do so and submit it along with the necessary supporting evidence on IPSA Online to info@theipsa.org.uk by Friday, 14 April 2023.

For more information, visit Year-end.

March spend and all 2022-23 outstanding payment card lines need to be reconciled by Friday, 28 April 2023.

To speak to your dedicated Account Manager or Payroll Officer, book a call using the booking system and they will contact you at the allocated time.

Disability assistance funding

This guidance explains and seeks to increase awareness of the support IPSA can provide to support reasonable adjustments for MPs, their staff, and constituents.

  • IPSA can help MPs ensure that they are providing appropriate support to their staff team who have disabilities or long-term mental health and neurodiverse conditions. 

  • IPSA is there to support MPs who are disabled or who have long-term mental health and neurodiverse conditions. 

  • IPSA can support MPs to help them meet their obligations to constituents with disabilities. 

  • The support we can provide includes funding for: IT and other specialist equipment; reasonable adjustments to office space; additional travel costs for carers or support workers where needed. 

For more information please visit, Disability Assistance Funding.

You can also contact your Account Manager who will be happy to help. 

Call for research participants

As part of IPSA’s ongoing efforts to provide clarity and transparency around MPs’ spending to support their parliamentary functions, we want to assess how we can improve by receiving feedback from our users.

The aim of the research is to:

  • learn about why spending data is of interest to various audiences

  • assess how well the information is currently displayed on our website, and

  • identify improvement opportunities

The research session will last 45 minutes and will be conducted via video call.

If this is of interest, please email takepart@theipsa.org.uk.