Asked by: Bernard Jenkin (Conservative - Harwich and North Essex)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what the mean salary is of the permanent staff of IPSA.
Answered by Charles Walker
In 2018-19, the mean salary of the permanent staff at IPSA was £38,930.92.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question
To ask the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what the total cost has been to the public purse of hon. Members who have not taken their seats in the House of Commons in (a) 2015, (b) 2016, (c) 2017 and (d) 2018.
Answered by Charles Walker
All MPs are able to claim for business costs and expenses in line with the rules established by IPSA in the Scheme of MPs’ Business Costs and Expenses. All business costs and expenses claimed by MPs, including those who have not taken their seats in the House of Commons, are routinely published and can be viewed on IPSA’s website: www.theipsa.org.uk/mp-costs/your-mp/.
The figures below outline the business costs and expenses of those MPs who have not taken their seats.
Financial Year | MPs with Published costs | Office Costs | Staffing | Staff Absence | Winding-Up Budget | Accommodation / Hotels | Travel | Total | |
2015-16 | 6 | £12,334.65 | £545,454.86 | NA | £89,712.95 | £0.00 | £597.69 | £648,100.15 | |
2016-17 | 4 | £20,504.85 | £434,266.07 | NA | £0.00 | £0.00 | £5,146.49 | £459,917.41 | |
2017-18 | 8 | £115,569.72 | £683,680.99 | £0.00 | £35,163.41 | £7,835.00 | £32,210.58 | £874,459.70 | |
2018-19 | 7 | £115,667.58 | £893,333.79 | £7,879.49 |
| £0.00 | £19,597.03 | £119,282.23 | £1,155,760.12 |
Under a resolution of the House, Representative Money is provided to opposition parties represented by Members who have chosen not to take the Oath. Payment of Representative Money is administered by the House of Commons Members’ Hub. Budget allocations for Representative Money since 2005-6 are published in Appendix 4 of the following document: https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN01663 .
The Representative Money allocation figures for the four years in question are as follows:
Financial Year | Period | Main Allocation | Travel Allocation | Total Allocation |
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| £ | £ | £ |
2015/16 * | 01/04/15 - 07/05/15 | 11,511.00 | 329.45 | 11,840.45 |
| 08/05/15 - 31/03/16 | 87,783.00 | 1,898.90 | 89,681.90 |
2016/17 | 01/04/16 - 31/03/17 | 97,556.00 | 2,224.32 | 99,780.32 |
2017/18 * | 01/04/17 - 08/06/17 | 18,737.00 | 431.41 | 19,168.41 |
| 09/06/17 - 31/03/18 | 130,970.00 | 2,901.64 | 133,871.64 |
2018/19 | 01/04/18 - 31/03/19 | 165,864.00 | 3,674.62 | 169,538.62 |
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* General Election years |
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Since 2016-17 it has been a requirement to publish the amounts paid for the financial year and these can be found on the Parliament website via the following link: https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/foi/transparency-publications/hoc-transparency-publications/financial-information/financial-assistance-to-opposition-parties/previous-financial-assistance-to-opposition-parties/.
The Representative Money actual expenditure for each financial year since 2016-17 was as follows:
Financial Year | Period | Main Allocation Spend | Travel Allocation Spend | Total Spend |
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| £ | £ | £ |
2016/17 | 01/04/16 - 31/03/17 | 97,743.00 | 0.00 | 97,743.00 |
2017/18 * | 01/04/17 - 08/06/17 | 18,737.00 | 0.00 | 18,737.00 |
| 09/06/17 - 31/03/18 | 131,824.00 | 0.00 | 131,824.00 |
2018/19 | 01/04/18 - 31/03/19 | 166,005.00 | 0.00 | 166,005.00 |
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* General Election years |
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Any spend above the Main Allocation has been funded by the parties themselves.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question
To ask the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what plans the Committee has to review the arrangements on access to salaries and expenses for hon. Members and their staff who do not take their seats.
Answered by Charles Walker
Arrangements for paying salaries and expenses to MPs and their staff are for IPSA to determine, as set out in the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009. Section 4(6) of the Act states that IPSA is only able to pay the salaries of MPs who have taken the Oath and thereby take their seats in parliament. MPs who do not take the Oath, and the staff employed by them, are nonetheless eligible to claim for business costs in pursuit of their constituency work in line with the Scheme of MPs’ Business Costs and Expenses.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question
To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what plans the Commission has to improve the working conditions for Members' staff.
Answered by Tom Brake
Members’ staff are regularly consulted on service issues by House authorities. These consultations include regular meetings between House staff and MPs’ staff representative bodies, and invitations to focus groups to feed into service design. A sample of Members’ staff have also recently been surveyed on how effective the services provided by the House are for them. There is also an annual meeting between House staff and MPs’ staff bodies (specifically Members and Peers Staff Association and Unite) at which service issues can be raised.
More recently, the House of Commons Commission has discussed the Gemma White review, and it welcomed the broad thrust of the recommendations made, which included better HR services for Members’ staff and how the sense of isolation that they feel can be addressed. They have asked the House Administration to carry out further work to examine the practical steps that can be taken in response to it.
Terms and conditions of service for Members’ staff fall within the remit of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, if the Commission will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of the new IPSA system.
Answered by Charles Walker
I have asked IPSA to reply.
The original April 2016 business case for IPSA’s new IT system, IPSA Online, estimated a cost of £4.641 million. IPSA expected the programme to be completed in 2017-18. The full costs incurred to ensure IPSA could go live with IPSA Online at the beginning of the current financial year were £8.253 million.
The increase in cost was due in part to the unexpected General Election of June 2017 which diverted IPSA work for up to nine months to supporting MPs who left or joined parliament, and increased supplier costs. Costs also increased following a change of suppliers in September 2018 to improve the quality of IT support. Testing the system took longer than anticipated in order to ensure it was fully secure and free of technical problems. The increases in cost have been partly mitigated by savings elsewhere in IPSA’s budget. A full internal audit of the programme is currently taking place. IPSA will report to the Speaker’s Committee for the IPSA later in the year on the overall costs and benefits of IPSA Online.
IPSA is committed to supporting MPs and their staff during this transition and will make appropriate adjustments to improve the system as it beds in, while ensuring strong financial control, improvements in value for money, and high data quality and data security.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, how much the new system for reimbursing hon. Members' expenses cost to implement.
Answered by Charles Walker
I have asked IPSA to reply.
The original April 2016 business case for IPSA’s new IT system, IPSA Online, estimated a cost of £4.641 million. IPSA expected the programme to be completed in 2017-18. The full costs incurred to ensure IPSA could go live with IPSA Online at the beginning of the current financial year were £8.253 million.
The increase in cost was due in part to the unexpected General Election of June 2017 which diverted IPSA work for up to nine months to supporting MPs who left or joined parliament, and increased supplier costs. Costs also increased following a change of suppliers in September 2018 to improve the quality of IT support. Testing the system took longer than anticipated in order to ensure it was fully secure and free of technical problems. The increases in cost have been partly mitigated by savings elsewhere in IPSA’s budget. A full internal audit of the programme is currently taking place. IPSA will report to the Speaker’s Committee for the IPSA later in the year on the overall costs and benefits of IPSA Online.
IPSA is committed to supporting MPs and their staff during this transition and will make appropriate adjustments to improve the system as it beds in, while ensuring strong financial control, improvements in value for money, and high data quality and data security.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what estimate his Department has made on the potential cost incurred by MPs' offices in answering web-based inquiries generated by (a) 38 Degrees and (b) other websites in the last 12 months.
Answered by Charles Walker
I have asked IPSA to provide this reply.
IPSA is the statutory body responsible for regulating and paying the salaries, business costs and expenses of MPs. This includes regulating and paying the salaries of staff members who work for MPs.
Each MP is allocated a budget from which their staffing costs are paid. The current staffing budget for MPs in London constituencies is £166,930; and for non-London MPs, the budget is £155,930.
In the 2018-19 financial year, MPs spent £91.1 million on staffing costs, including employment costs and other staffing services.
IPSA does not hold information on the cost attributable to staff members carrying out specific activities such as responding to web-based inquiries generated by 38 Degrees or other websites.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the system for reimbursing MPs expenses; and if IPSA will make it its policy to reinstate the previous system for the reimbursement of expenses.
Answered by Charles Walker
IPSA considered a range of options for its new system of reimbursing MPs’ business costs and expenses. The system selected is more integrated and efficient than its predecessor systems, and holds the personal data of MPs and their staff more securely. The software selected is widely used in the United Kingdom, including in many public bodies. Prior to its launch in April, the effectiveness of the system was thoroughly tested, including by MPs and their staff. Its benefits include:
- A ‘single sign-on’ capability to allow MPs and their staff to access the system directly through their secure parliamentary account without an additional logon.
- MPs and staff no longer need to send paper receipts and invoices to IPSA, but can scan or photograph them and upload them digitally onto the system. This improves data security and means that IPSA can process and reimburse claims more quickly.
- MPs’ staff members can now be reimbursed directly by IPSA for their own expenses rather than via their MPs.
- MPs and their staff are now able to amend their personal details, including any change of name or address, on the new system themselves, without needing to submit a form to IPSA.
- The new system allows claims from different budgets to be submitted on the same form, rather than having to submit multiple forms.
- MPs and their staff have constant access to financial information about the amounts left in their budgets and the status of any repayments or amounts owed, rather than waiting a monthly financial statement from IPSA.
As of 13 June, 612 MPs have successfully submitted claims on the new system. IPSA is committed to supporting and training MPs and their staff as they become accustomed to the new online claims system. IPSA does not intend to make it its policy to reinstate the previous system.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what estimate he has made of the number of emails from hon. Members sent to IPSA in June 2019 that have not received a response within three days; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Charles Walker
IPSA has a key performance target to respond to 90 per cent of emails within five working days. Between 1 June and 13 June, IPSA responded to 88 per cent of the 563 emails received within this target. IPSA has recently brought in five temporary staff to help improve its response times following the introduction of a new finance, payroll and expenses system in April 2019.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what steps he is taking to help ensure that IPSA has sufficient resources to extend its working hours so that (a) telephone calls can be answered during the hours the House sits and (b) responses can be given to emails from MPs within three to five working days.
Answered by Charles Walker
IPSA’s December 2018 user survey found that 68 per cent of MPs and their staff were satisfied with the support that they receive from IPSA on the phone, up from 53 per cent in 2017. Since the introduction of its new online finance and expenses system in April 2019, IPSA has experienced a higher-than-normal volume of calls, with some calls taking up to 45 minutes as MPs and their staff familiarise themselves with the new system. To respond to this increased demand, IPSA has recruited five temporary staff to answer the phone to MPs, and has temporarily closed its phone lines at 4pm in order to respond to the queries raised. IPSA expects to re-open its phone lines until 5pm when this demand subsides.
IPSA has a key performance target to respond to 90 per cent of emails within five days. In 2018-19, IPSA responded to over 85 per cent of the 54,500 letters and emails that were received within five working days of receipt. In April 2019, following the introduction on the new system, IPSA only replied to 70 per cent of emails within this target. The additional temporary staff will also address this increased demand.
IPSA’s performance is monitored by the Speaker’s Committee for the IPSA which approves IPSA’s budget and targets, including how it responds to MPs’ queries.