IPSA announces decision on MPs’ pay

Today, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) has announced its decision on MPs’ pay, which will see an increase of 5.5%. This is in line with the award recently agreed for the senior civil service.

IPSA is independent of Parliament and government, which enables it to make fair and impartial decisions about MPs’ pay, pensions and business costs.

To guide its decision-making, IPSA follows a set of outcomes and principles, designed to ensure MPs can carry out their parliamentary duties fully and effectively. Balanced against this, IPSA considers whether the total cost to the taxpayer is affordable and fair.

IPSA has published a report explaining how it makes decisions on MPs’ pay, to tackle common myths and misunderstandings, including that MPs do not decide their own pay and that the funding for running offices and employing staff does not go to MPs as a “top-up” to their salary.

Richard Lloyd, Chair of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority said:

“IPSA has been responsible for deciding MPs’ pay since 2011. Since then, our aim has been to make fair decisions on pay, both for MPs and the public.

“Serving as an MP should not be reserved to those wealthy enough to fund it themselves. We believe our decision recognises the vital role MPs play in our democracy and considers the continued economic challenges facing the country. We are committed to supporting a Parliament that reflects our society, where people from all walks of life can decide to become MPs.”

Also today, IPSA published details of spending by MPs against their parliamentary budgets in the period from 1 October to 30 November 2023. This details the resources authorised for carrying out parliamentary and constituency duties. Most of an MP’s budget, which is set by IPSA, goes towards paying their staff to support constituents and other parliamentary duties.

Ends

For more information contact the IPSA press office on 07792 242736 or email communications@theipsa.org.uk.

Notes to editors

1. IPSA was created in 2009 by the Parliamentary Standards Act. The Act was amended in 2010 by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act. Together they gave IPSA three main responsibilities:

• to regulate MPs’ business costs

• to determine MPs’ pay and pension arrangements

• to provide financial support to MPs in carrying out their parliamentary functions

2. IPSA is independent of Parliament and the Government. This allows it to make decisions about the rules on business costs and on MPs’ pay ourselves, without interference. You can learn more about IPSA's role and responsibilities on our website.

3. The Scheme of MPs’ Staffing and Business Costs ("the Scheme") governs what MPs can and cannot claim. Today, we have published the seventeenth edition of the Scheme.

4. You can find the data IPSA has published today by downloading the Individual business costs data 2023-2024 spreadsheet on this page of our website, under the Individual business costs heading. You can also view claims relating to an individual MP by searching their name or constituency on our website.

5. Today's data cannot point to a trend or a pattern, as costs for MPs vary month by month. IPSA's annual publication, covering business costs submitted by MPs in 2022-2023, shows that almost 80% of MPs’ business costs go toward paying their staff.

6. MPs’ constituencies have a range of different characteristics, for example, size, population, urban or rural landscape, and distance from Westminster, which makes comparisons between the data for each MP difficult.

7. Repayments are made to IPSA by MPs and third parties for a variety of reasons. These include:

• refunding items for which an MP no longer wishes to claim

• refunding payment card transactions for which an MP does not wish to claim, and

• where an MP has received a rebate or refund from a third party, for example on their business rates or utility bills