Salaries for MP's

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IPSA was set up in 2010 following the MPs’ expenses scandal, as an independent regulator to make sure that there was oversight of how MPs use public money. In order to do this we set up a ‘scheme’ which contains the rules about what funding is available to MPs and how they can use it. Members of the House of Lords and civil servants fall outside IPSA’s remit.

The Scheme of MPs’ Staffing and Business Costs sets out the rules and principles in which MPs must operate in terms of making claims for reimbursement of costs. This is reviewed regularly taking on feedback from MPs themselves, their staff, other stakeholders and members of the public. You can find the Scheme on our website.

In 2015, after a long period of review, IPSA established a mechanism for making periodic adjustments to MPs’ salaries, reflecting changes in salaries in the rest of public sector. You can see our report on the website.

The economic impact of the Covid pandemic means that the data normally used for these annual adjustments is not effective in the current circumstances, so IPSA has decided to temporarily suspend the automatic nature of these adjustments and will instead reflect on a variety of information and data sources to come to a decision on salaries that is fair to both MPs and the taxpayer.

The Scheme and IPSA’s policy in relation to MPs’ salaries are not aimed explicitly at reducing expenditure, but at ensuring value for money for the taxpayer as well as ensuring that MPs are funded appropriately so that they can do their jobs.