Question

To ask the hon. Member for Warrington North, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what recent assessment she has made of levels of public confidence in the administration of hon. Members' business costs since the general election.

The Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (SCIPSA) is a statutory body whose role is defined by the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009, as amended by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. The Committee reviews the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA)'s annual estimate of the resources it needs, in order to ensure the estimate is consistant with the efficient and cost-effective discharge of IPSA's functions, before the estimate is laid before the House by the Speaker.

It is not part of the Committee's statutory role to quantify public confidance in the work of IPSA; the publicly available data does not distinguish between administration of business costs by IPSA and public attitudes towards Members of Parliament, the way they perform their duties or the wider self-regulatory system relating to the conduct of Members.

However, data held by IPSA shows that the volume of complaints received in the three months following the 2024 General Election from members of the public regarding business costs decreased by 56 per cent compared to the three months prior to polling day.