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1146277

	registered interest
	date	25/09/2019
	answering body	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept id	90
	answering dept short name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept sort name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	hansard heading	Members: Travel
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, how much money has been claimed by Members for travel costs to return to Parliament following the Supreme Court ruling on the Government's prorogation of Parliament.
	tabling member constituency	Scunthorpe
	tabling member printed	Nic Dakin
	uin	291022
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/09/2019 answer text <p>IPSA provides funding for MPs to travel in order to fulfil their parliamentary duties. This includes travel from anywhere in the UK back to Westminster, for parliamentary reasons. Following the Supreme Court’s judgement and the resumption of Parliament on 25 September 2019, IPSA also funded MPs’ travel costs from other countries where necessary, in order for them to return to Parliament.</p><p>In accordance with the Scheme of MPs’ Business Costs and Expenses, MPs have a period of 90 days from when they incur a cost to submit a claim for reimbursement, accompanied by evidence. It will therefore not be possible to assess how much money has been claimed by MPs for their travel back to Parliament as a result of the Supreme Court’s judgement until 90 days after the 25 September 2019.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 30/09/2019 13:38:24 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	4056 label Biography information for Nic Dakin

1171312

	registered interest
	date	16/01/2020
	answering body	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept id	90
	answering dept short name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept sort name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	hansard heading	Members: Pay
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	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.
	tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
	tabling member printed	Scott Benton
	uin	4497
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/01/2020 answer text <p>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.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 30/01/2020 17:02:16 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	4793 label Biography information for Scott Benton

1171314

	registered interest
	date	16/01/2020
	answering body	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept id	90
	answering dept short name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept sort name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	hansard heading	Members: Allowances
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	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.
	tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
	tabling member printed	Scott Benton
	uin	4498
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/01/2020 answer text <p>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: <a href="https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/qLAXCNL3qi2VnYMc4psuS?domain=theipsa.org.uk" target="_blank">www.theipsa.org.uk/mp-costs/your-mp/</a>.</p><p>The figures below outline the business costs and expenses of those MPs who have not taken their seats.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Financial Year</strong></p></td><td><p>MPs with Published costs</p></td><td><p>Office Costs</p></td><td><p>Staffing</p></td><td><p>Staff Absence</p></td><td><p>Winding-Up Budget</p></td><td><p>Accommodation / Hotels</p></td><td><p>Travel</p></td><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2015-16</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>6</strong></p></td><td><p>£12,334.65</p></td><td><p>£545,454.86</p></td><td><p>NA</p></td><td><p>£89,712.95</p></td><td><p>£0.00</p></td><td><p>£597.69</p></td><td><p><strong>£648,100.15</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2016-17</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>4</strong></p></td><td><p>£20,504.85</p></td><td><p>£434,266.07</p></td><td><p>NA</p></td><td><p>£0.00</p></td><td><p>£0.00</p></td><td><p>£5,146.49</p></td><td><p><strong>£459,917.41</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2017-18</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>8</strong></p></td><td><p>£115,569.72</p></td><td><p>£683,680.99</p></td><td><p>£0.00</p></td><td><p>£35,163.41</p></td><td><p>£7,835.00</p></td><td><p>£32,210.58</p></td><td><p><strong>£874,459.70</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2018-19</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>7</strong></p></td><td><p>£115,667.58</p></td><td><p>£893,333.79</p></td><td><p>£7,879.49</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>£0.00</p></td><td><p>£19,597.03</p></td><td><p>£119,282.23</p></td><td><p><strong>£1,155,760.12</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>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: <a href="https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/OxaaCOM3rc65PD2tkjS1X?domain=researchbriefings.parliament.uk" target="_blank">https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN01663</a> .</p><p>The Representative Money allocation figures for the four years in question are as follows:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Financial Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Period</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Main </strong><strong>Allocation</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Travel Allocation</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total Allocation</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>£</p></td><td><p>£</p></td><td><p>£</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2015/16</strong><strong> *</strong></p></td><td><p>01/04/15 - 07/05/15</p></td><td><p>11,511.00</p></td><td><p>329.45</p></td><td><p>11,840.45</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p>08/05/15 - 31/03/16</p></td><td><p>87,783.00</p></td><td><p>1,898.90</p></td><td><p>89,681.90</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2016/17</strong></p></td><td><p>01/04/16 - 31/03/17</p></td><td><p>97,556.00</p></td><td><p>2,224.32</p></td><td><p>99,780.32</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2017/18 *</strong></p></td><td><p>01/04/17 - 08/06/17</p></td><td><p>18,737.00</p></td><td><p>431.41</p></td><td><p>19,168.41</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p>09/06/17 - 31/03/18</p></td><td><p>130,970.00</p></td><td><p>2,901.64</p></td><td><p>133,871.64</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2018/19</strong></p></td><td><p>01/04/18 - 31/03/19</p></td><td><p>165,864.00</p></td><td><p>3,674.62</p></td><td><p>169,538.62</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>* General Election years</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>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: <a href="https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/Y7jACP73vF7vDB5Sj7NsM?domain=parliament.uk" target="_blank">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/</a>.</p><p>The Representative Money actual expenditure for each financial year since 2016-17 was as follows:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Financial Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Period</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Main </strong><strong>Allocation Spend</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Travel Allocation</strong><strong> Spend</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total </strong><strong>Spend</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>£</p></td><td><p>£</p></td><td><p>£</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2016/17</strong></p></td><td><p>01/04/16 - 31/03/17</p></td><td><p>97,743.00</p></td><td><p>0.00</p></td><td><p>97,743.00</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2017/18 *</strong></p></td><td><p>01/04/17 - 08/06/17</p></td><td><p>18,737.00</p></td><td><p>0.00</p></td><td><p>18,737.00</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p>09/06/17 - 31/03/18</p></td><td><p>131,824.00</p></td><td><p>0.00</p></td><td><p>131,824.00</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2018/19</strong></p></td><td><p>01/04/18 - 31/03/19</p></td><td><p>166,005.00</p></td><td><p>0.00</p></td><td><p>166,005.00</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>* General Election years</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Any spend above the Main Allocation has been funded by the parties themselves.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 30/01/2020 17:04:17 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	4793 label Biography information for Scott Benton

1175724

	registered interest
	date	03/02/2020
	answering body	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept id	90
	answering dept short name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept sort name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	hansard heading	Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority: Pay
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	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.
	tabling member constituency	Harwich and North Essex
	tabling member printed	Sir Bernard Jenkin
	uin	11429
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/02/2020 answer text <p>In 2018-19, the mean salary of the permanent staff at IPSA was £38,930.92.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 06/02/2020 13:26:11 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	40 label Biography information for Sir Bernard Jenkin

1196316

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2020
	answering body	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept id	90
	answering dept short name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept sort name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	hansard heading	Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, when the telephone line for IPSA will be re-opened.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
	uin	47324
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/05/2020 answer text <p>On 17 March, IPSA moved all of its staff to homeworking, in line with Government guidance. Members were asked to communicate any queries by email, and IPSA staff then called or emailed them back to provide advice or resolve any issues.</p><p>Phone lines reopened on 21 April, when IPSA adopted the common retail approach of a call booking system. This was trialled with around 70 MPs’ offices on their User Group in order to ensure the system worked effectively. Following a successful trial, on 4 May the approach was implemented for all Members of Parliament and their staff who are now able to book phone calls with IPSA payroll and support staff at a convenient time. IPSA has received 286 call bookings so far.</p><p>IPSA will keep these arrangements under review to ensure effective support to Members and their staff at this time.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 19/05/2020 09:09:41 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner

1260161

	registered interest
	date	10/12/2020
	answering body	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept id	90
	answering dept short name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept sort name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	hansard heading	Members: Staff
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what estimate the Authority has made of the (a) amount and (b) cost to the public purse of Member's staff time spent on IPSA-related work; and what steps the Authority is taking to reduce that cost to the public purse.
	tabling member constituency	Slough
	tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
	uin	128234
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/12/2020 answer text <p>I am grateful to the hon. Member for his question. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority has listened to feedback from all of its stakeholders and acknowledges the significant amount of time that MPs and their staff currently spend administering business and staffing costs and the increase in volume and complexity of workloads as a result of the pandemic.Whilst IPSA has not estimated the amount of time or cost of this activity specifically as this varies by MP Office and constituency, with the backing of the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, IPSA is embarking on a transformation programme that will simplify the Scheme, improve service, deliver better value for money for the taxpayer and enable MPs and their staff to focus on their constituents and Parliamentary duties. In the short term, IPSA has also increased spending allowances to ensure office staffing and home working are resourced effectively.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 15/12/2020 10:12:18 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1273262

	registered interest
	date	30/12/2020
	answering body	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept id	90
	answering dept short name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept sort name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	hansard heading	Members' Staff: Voluntary Work
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, if IPSA will provide volunteers working at home during the covid-19 outbreak with the lunch expenses as provided for in the model volunteer agreement.
	tabling member constituency	Slough
	tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
	uin	133126
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/01/2021 answer text <p>The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) provides funding for staffing and business costs to support MPs in their parliamentary functions, in line with the rules and general conditions set out in its Scheme.</p><p>MPs may claim for the cost of reasonable food and travel expenses to be paid to volunteers who are supporting their parliamentary work, to ensure they are not out of pocket as a result of their volunteer activities. This may include, for example, the purchase of lunch when working away from home. Volunteer expenses may only be reimbursed to cover actual costs incurred as a result of supporting the MP and are not intended to be used as a daily food allowance to fund the consumption of food and drink in a volunteer's own home.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 11/01/2021 14:26:07 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1275840

	registered interest
	date	12/01/2021
	answering body	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept id	90
	answering dept short name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept sort name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	hansard heading	Members' Staff: Voluntary Work
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2021 to Question 133126, for what reasons IPSA has not included the geographical restrictions of volunteer subsistence expenses within the wording of the (i) scheme as it relates to volunteers and (ii) IPSA model volunteer contract; what steps IPSA has taken to ensure that policy complies with section 5(1) of the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009; where previously IPSA has published its policy of geographical restrictions of volunteer subsistence costs; when and with whom IPSA consulted ahead of introducing that policy; what steps IPSA took to communicate that policy; on what dates that communication occurred; and whether IPSA has undertaken an assessment of the appropriateness of that policy position during the covid-19 outbreak.
	tabling member constituency	Slough
	tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
	uin	136593
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/01/2021 answer text <p>IPSA has informed me that the arrangements for volunteer expenses were updated in March 2014 when the new model volunteer agreement was produced. This was communicated through the IPSA bulletin at the time and is available on the IPSA website. The Hon. Member is correct that there is no geographical stipulation in the volunteer expenses rules. There is a balance to strike when drawing up policy and guidance between on the one hand brevity and clarity and on the other detailing all possible scenarios. There will always be an element of judgement and interpretation when unusual situations such as the Covid19 pandemic occur.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 18/01/2021 10:14:36 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1275841

	registered interest
	date	12/01/2021
	answering body	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept id	90
	answering dept short name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept sort name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	hansard heading	Members' Staff: Voluntary Work
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, on which dates in January 2021 the directors of IPSA (a) met and (b) plan to meet to discuss volunteer subsistence costs; and if IPSA will publish minutes relating to (i) those meetings and (ii) other senior IPSA management meetings in the past six months on volunteer subsistence costs.
	tabling member constituency	Slough
	tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
	uin	136594
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/01/2021 answer text <p>There have not been any specific director meetings on volunteer expenses but the policy team and the Chief Executive of IPSA considered carefully the issue of food costs for volunteers who are working from home. A guiding principle in the stewardship of the use of public funds is that reimbursement is appropriate where there is a work-related expense that is additional to usual living costs. In this case, volunteers working on the parliamentary estate or in a constituency office would be incurring additional expense by needing to purchase food. This is not the case when the volunteer is at home as they would not incur additional food costs whilst working for an MP.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 18/01/2021 10:15:01 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1277633

	registered interest
	date	18/01/2021
	answering body	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept id	90
	answering dept short name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept sort name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	hansard heading	Members' Staff: Allowances
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2021 to Question 136593, whether Members' staff working on the parliamentary estate or in a constituency office incur a work-related expense that is additional to usual living costs by needing to purchase food at that location.
	tabling member constituency	Slough
	tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
	uin	139115
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/01/2021 answer text <p>As is common in most employment arrangements, Members' employees are expected to provide for their own nourishment and refreshment at work, whether they purchase that or bring it in from home. The position is different for volunteers as they are not employed and provided with a salary from which to provide that sustenance. For that reason, volunteers can claim for the additional costs associated with volunteering for an MP, for example when on the parliamentary estate or in a constituency office (which includes food) which Members' staff cannot.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 21/01/2021 09:36:44 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi