Number of staff employed by each MP since 2010, length of employment for every staff member and employment tribunals per MP

I will take your requests for information in turn.

• How many members of staff has each MP employed since the 2010 general election?

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 at: http://www.parliamentary-standards.org.uk/AnnualisedData.aspx.

The number of staff who have worked for each MP since the 2010 general election will include, for example, the following:

• Full-time and part-time staff paid through IPSA’s payroll (including those on casual contracts or carrying out short-term work);

• employed interns; and

The figures relate only to the number of individuals who have received payment through IPSA’s payroll from the staffing expenditure budget. They do not represent the full-time equivalent figure, and do not therefore necessarily reflect the staffing capacity, as such, of an MP’s office. Individuals who work short periods, such as employed interns or individuals providing maternity cover, are not distinguished from longer term permanent members of staff.

The data are correct as of 16 February 2015.

Please find attached, at Annex A, the number of individuals employed by each MP since the 2010 general election.

• For how long did each staff member work for the MP?

You will note, from the figures at Annex A, that over 7,500 individuals have been employed by MPs since the 2010 general election.

We hold, for each individual employed by an MP, the start and end dates of each instance of their employment. This information can be used to calculate the length of time each individual has been employed. Many individuals work for MPs for short periods, on multiple occasions, and will appear within our records separately for each instance of their employment.

We therefore have calculated that to locate, retrieve and extract the length of service for all individuals employed by every MP since the 2010 general election, in addition to the work already carried out to provide an answer to the first part of your request, would exceed 18 hours, and would therefore take us over the relevant cost limit specified within the FOIA (part 1 of Schedule 1 of the Freedom of Information Act).  Consequently, IPSA is not obliged to respond to your request (see section 12(1), FOIA).

• How many employments tribunals has each MP had with staff during this time?

IPSA does not hold information on employment tribunals. Human resources services are provided to Members of Parliament and their staff by the Personnel Advisory Service and HR Services Team in the House of Commons and they may hold the information you request.