Question

To ask the hon. Member for Warrington North, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing staff salary pay scales so parliamentary advisors can be paid at the same level as hon. Members.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) keeps MPs' staff pay under review and periodically assesses benchmarking data so that pay scales remain in line with the salaries of other similar roles within the public sector.

There are seven standard MPs' staff roles plus interns, each having different job descriptions, required skills and competencies, experience, and levels of responsibility. IPSA's benchmarking process insures that salary differentials reflect the market rates for different roles.

IPSA annually presents its recommendations to the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority as part of the committee's review of IPSA's main estimate.