MPs & Austerity

Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority did not have the information requested.

Dear Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority,
The PM expects some Government Departments to cut expenditure by around one-third without affecting “front-line” services to customers i.e. through improved efficiency. What information is available to demonstrate that he has taken the same approach with MPs and their expenses – staff costs, admin costs, subsidence etc. and that they have responded?

Yours faithfully,

Rose Cullingford

Dear Ms Cullingford,

 

Thank you for your email.

 

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) was established
in May 2010 to independently oversee and regulate MPs’ business costs and
expenses.

 

IPSA is independent of Parliament, Government and political parties. As
such, the Prime Minister is not responsible for the system of MPs’
business costs and expenses. You can find out more about IPSA on our
website: [1]http://parliamentarystandards.org.uk.

 

Details of all claims made by all MPs are published on our publication
website. You can use the various search functions to locate individual
claims made by each MP since May 2010:
[2]http://www.parliamentary-standards.org.uk/.

 

Kind regards,

 

Chris Veck

Freedom of Information Officer

 

Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA)

4th Floor

30 Millbank

London, SW1P 4DU

 

Tel: 020 7811 6400

Email: [3][IPSA request email]

[4]www.parliamentarystandards.org.uk

Follow us on Twitter: [5]@ipsauk

 

If you are an MP or work for an MP you can now provide feedback in our
[6]annual survey

 

 

 

show quoted sections

Dear FOI,
I understand the concept of "legitimate expense claims", but this is not what my question is about. It is about who sets overall limits. For example one approach would be to say to each MP, last year your expenses were "x" so this year in line with elsewhere they will be capped at "x" less 25% with no loss of service to constituents. Each MP would then cut their cloth accordingly - find more efficient ways of working to reduce staff & overhead costs, modify travel arrangements etc. - just the same as is expected of elsewhere in the public sector - perhaps better managed by the Chancellor than the PM. Is there anything of this kind in place? It not it means that as long as an item of expense falls on the "allowable" list, an MP can spend as much as they wish.
Yours sincerely,
Rose Cullingford

Dear Ms Cullingford,

 

Thank you for your email.

 

The MPs’ Scheme of Business Costs and Expenses (‘the Scheme’) contains
various different budgets against which MPs can claim costs (eg. office
costs, staffing, travel). Each of these budgets contains an annual limit,
which cannot be exceeded. These limits can be found at Annex A of the
Scheme:
[1]http://parliamentarystandards.org.uk/IPS...

 

Kind regards,

 

Chris Veck

Freedom of Information Officer

 

Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA)

4th Floor

30 Millbank

London, SW1P 4DU

 

Tel: 020 7811 6400

Email: [2][IPSA request email]

[3]www.parliamentarystandards.org.uk

Follow us on Twitter: [4]@ipsauk

 

If you are an MP or work for an MP you can now provide feedback in our
[5]annual survey

 

 

 

show quoted sections

Dear FOI,
I'm sorry, but the link you have provided returns an error message.
Yours sincerely,

Rose Cullingford

Dear Ms Cullingford,

 

If you go to our homepage ([1]http://parliamentarystandards.org.uk) and
click the link to ' MPs' Scheme of Business Costs and Expenses, Seventh
Edition (2015-16)' under 'QUICK LINKS' on the right-hand side, this should
take you to the Scheme.

 

Kind regards,

 

Chris Veck

Freedom of Information Officer

 

Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA)

4th Floor

30 Millbank

London, SW1P 4DU

 

Tel: 020 7811 6400

Email: [2][IPSA request email]

[3]www.parliamentarystandards.org.uk

Follow us on Twitter: [4]@ipsauk

 

If you are an MP or work for an MP you can now provide feedback in our
[5]annual survey

 

 

 

show quoted sections