IPSA launches Consultations to Review MPs’ Pay and Pensions and IPSA’s Publication Policy

Date published: 10 May 2018

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) today published a consultation to review MPs’ Pay and Pensions, and IPSA’s publication policy.

This consultation document sets out proposals in relation to MPs’ remuneration, covering salary, pensions and the payments they receive upon losing office. IPSA introduced a reformed package covering MPs’ remuneration in 2015. This was the first time that the question of MPs’ remuneration had been resolved by an independent body.

By providing a methodology for automatic annual adjustments to the MPs’ salary, following an initial adjustment, we aimed to create a settlement that would last for years to come.

IPSA has a statutory duty to review MPs’ remuneration in the first year of each Parliament. In consulting now we are fulfilling the requirement to do so by June 2018, a year after the last General Election in June 2017.

This gives us the opportunity to take stock and gather feedback on the current arrangements for MPs’ salaries, pensions, and payments received upon losing office. No major changes to the 2015 determination are proposed.

Ruth Evans, IPSA’s Chair, said:

“IPSA has a statutory duty to review MPs’ pay in the first year of a parliament. We last did so in 2015 when, after a two-year consultation period, we increased MPs’ pay to £74,000 a year and reduced their pension benefits and other entitlements to public money. We also decided to link MPs’ pay to data on actual changes in average earnings in the public sector. As such, we have since adjusted MPs’ pay by small annual amounts in line with earnings elsewhere.

“We believe that this approach has been accepted by MPs and the public, and has contributed to greater confidence that MPs’ pay is independently regulated. We do not believe that we need to change the basis of our approach.

“We are taking the opportunity to consult on technical changes to MPs’ pensions, and to propose improved lump-sum payments to the beneficiaries of any MPs killed in the line of duty. And, in the light of our experience at the 2015 and 2017 General Elections, when we asked former MPs to work for up to two months without pay to close their office, make their staff redundant and wind up their parliamentary financial affairs, we are consulting on whether to compensate former MPs for this work.

“We are also consulting on some small changes to our publications policy. I look forward to hearing views about our proposals before we make a decision later this year.”

Notes to editors

The consultations run from 10 May to 15 June 2018. You can respond via an online survey.
You can also send your response by email to consultation@theipsa.org.uk.

For more information, please contact IPSA's Press Office.