What's Democracy Worth?

IPSA has published its response to the Citizens’ Forum on MPs’ pay and funding.

In September 2025, 23 people from across the UK took part in 18 hours of learning and deliberation to discuss how MPs can be funded and paid to best support democracy in the future. The Forum proposed nine principles for IPSA to consider on pay and funding, alongside recommendations on six areas for change, from staffing in MPs’ offices to modernisation. We have responded in detail to all the recommendations.

At the start of last year, we asked an important question – what’s democracy worth? We engaged with and listened to a variety of voices, including academics and other experts and, for the first time at this scale, to members of the public.

For IPSA, the answer to that question lies in the value of the funding we provide to MPs and their staff, and in what that funding is there to achieve.

We believe MPs play a vital role in our democracy and our role is to be enablers through the funding we provide.

Read our report on our dedicated What's Democracy Worth? page and find out more about the Citizens’ Forum and IPSA’s wider work.