Question

To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what assessment the Committee has made of the effectiveness of the handling of MPs expenses claims by IPSA.

The Speaker’s Committee meets IPSA throughout the year to assess its performance, running costs and effectiveness in handling MPs’ expenses. The Committee last met IPSA on 5 March 2024 and a transcript of that session is available on the Committee’s website: https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/14403/pdf/

In 2023, 65.3 per cent of MPs and their staff rated IPSA’s service as either good or very good, which was up on this measure in 2019 when 25.1 per cent rated the service in that way. The time taken for IPSA to reimburse MPs’ claims has reduced from an average of 8 days in 2020-21 to 2.6 days in 2023-24. Compliance with IPSA’s scheme is currently at 99.9%.

Through its scrutiny of IPSA, the Committee is looking at the steps being taken by IPSA to help improve its effectiveness in enabling MPs and their staff to claim for expenses and business costs. IPSA’s ongoing work includes:

• the development of an IPSA online portal to enhance the customer experience by improving the functionality of the system in areas such as claim and form submission;
• the greater provision of centralised services, reducing the financial and administrative burden on MPs and their staff through the centralised provision of goods and services such as constituency office leases, utilities, and equipment;
• the piloting of an online marketplace, allowing MPs and their staff to purchase goods such as office equipment centrally; and
• exploration of alternative models of reimbursement, enabling MPs and their staff to pay for business costs without the need to claim retrospectively.

The Committee plans to consider IPSA’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2023-24 later in the summer at which point it will assess IPSA’s latest results against its performance indicators.