Question

To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what comparative estimate the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority has made of the cost to the public purse of providing accommodation for hon. Members' staff in (a) constituency offices and (b) the parliamentary estate.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. I have asked IPSA to reply.

Letter from Marcial Boo, October 2014:

As Chief Executive of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking about office accommodation for MPs' staff.

We have not conducted such a comparative estimate.

Under the MPs’ Scheme of Business Costs and Expenses, MPs may choose where to locate their staff, based on how they wish to carry out their parliamentary functions. If an MP chooses to base some or all of his or her staff in the constituency, the costs associated with office rental may be charged to the MP’s Office Costs Expenditure budget (administered and paid for by IPSA). Costs associated with provision of an office on the Parliamentary estate are borne by the House of Commons centrally.