Question

To ask the hon. Member for Warrington North, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what recent discussions she has had with IPSA on its definition of an MP's parliamentary duties.

The Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 provides for IPSA to support MPs in carrying out their parliamentary functions. MPs are therefore required by IPSA to certify that their use of public funds was for the performance of their parliamentary functions, and that in incurring the expenditure they have complied with IPSA's statutory Scheme.

The Scheme is clear in stating that the following examples of activities are not considered parliamentary for the purposes of this Scheme, and are therefore not eligible for IPSA funding:

• attendance at political party conferences or meetings;
• work which is conducted for or at the behest of a political party;
• activities relating to reviews of parliamentary constituency boundaries;
• activities which could be construed as campaign expenditure within the scope of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, or election expenses within the scope of the Representation of the People Act 1983;
• any other activities whose purpose is to give MPs a campaigning advantage in general elections and referendums;
• work relating to delegations to an international assembly;
• or work relating to the performance of ministerial functions

This is not an exhaustive list, and IPSA will assess each item of expenditure on a case-by-case basis, reviewing evidence to ensure that costs relate to the parliamentary functions of the MP and not to personal, party political, campaigning, or other outside organisational activity.