MPs’ Pay for 2020-21 and Staff Budget Review

Date published: 5 March 2020

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority is today publishing details of MPs’ pay for the coming year and an increase in budgets for MPs’ staff, support for their welfare, and for security.

The annual adjustment to MPs’ basic pay for 2020-21 will be an increase of 3.1%, bringing the overall salary from £79,468 to £81,932 from 1 April 2020.

This is in line with the decision by IPSA in 2015 to adjust MPs’ pay at the same rate as changes in public sector earnings published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS). This was confirmed in July 2018 following a further review of MPs’ pay.

Read the full determination, alongside more information on our review of MPs' pay and pensions.

Also today, IPSA has published the outcome of a review of the MPs’ staffing budget.

Richard Lloyd, IPSA interim Chair, said:

“Our review of MPs’ staffing budgets in 2019 found demands on MPs’ offices were high, with staff doing difficult and stressful casework with constituents on a very wide range of problems. There was often high staff turnover, with salary levels below comparable roles elsewhere, based on independent benchmarked evidence. In many MPs’ offices, relatively little time or money was spent on staff training, wellbeing and development.

“As a result, we have provided additional funding in MPs’ 2020-21 staffing budgets for staff training and welfare, security, and changes to the salary bands and job descriptions for MPs’ staff to bring them into line with the jobs they actually do. This action demonstrates IPSA’s ongoing commitment to supporting MPs and their staff to serve their constituents, and we will review this over the next year, in line with our assurance work.”

ENDS

For more details contact IPSA's Press Office: communications@theipsa.org.uk

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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 and expenses

    • 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 us to take decisions about the rules on business costs and expenses and on MPs’ pay ourselves, without interference.

  3. The Scheme of MPs' Business Costs and Expenses ('the Scheme') governs what MPs can and cannot claim for. We review our rules regularly and consult the public when we do so.

  4. Every two months we publish around 25,000 claims for costs and expenses by MPs and their staff. Once a year we publish aggregate data for MPs’ spending and other aspects of their activity.