home
news & listings
ipsa
Report of IPSA Board open meeting with MPs' Staff
Added 30 March 2010
Note from W4MP Editor: As a result of an FoI request by a Westminster staffer we now have the report of the IPSA meeting with Members' Staff on 8 February 2010.
IPSA Board Open
Meeting with MPs’ staff
8 February 2010
IPSA Board members in attendance:
- Ian Kennedy
- Scott Baker
- Ken Olisa
The IPSA Board members held an open consultation meeting with MP staff members. The purpose of this meeting was for the Board members to listen to MPs’ staff views on the proposals set out in the IPSA consultation paper.
The meeting was held under the Chatham House rule, meaning that comments are not attributed to individual meeting participants. The following is a summary note of the comments made by MPs. The comments do not necessarily represent the views of all MPs’ staff or of IPSA.
The following points were made:
Nature of work – parliamentary versus party-political
- There were difficulties in the split between work done in the course of parliamentary, as opposed to party-political duties. In practice, this would be difficult to administer.
General Employment Issues
- It was suggested that IPSA should not prevent the current practice of temporary staff being provided at short notice, to cover sickness etc.
- Constituency staff often feel overlooked, and the specific issues affecting those in constituencies, particularly those in rural areas, were emphasised.
- Although levels of budgets had not yet been set, there was still concern that the current level of the staffing budget is not enough, especially with the trend of MPs having a higher casework load.
- Employees in other areas often have several other benefits associated with their employment (e.g. season ticket loans) that MPs’ staff do not have.
Employment of family members
- Several attendees spoke on this issue, including MPs’ spouses, showing little support for the proposal to ban the use of public funds in employing family members. Sir Ian reminded those present that IPSA are holding a separate meeting for MPs’ family members, and invited those concerned to take part.
Staff Pensions and Redundancy
- There was concern about the IPSA proposals for employer contributions to staff pensions to come from the staffing budget. Sir Ian pointed out that this was intended as an administrative measure, that the increased pressure on the staffing budget had been noted, and would be taken into account in the work on setting levels of each budget.
- The need for IPSA to further look at the proposals for staff redundancy was highlighted, with comparisons made to the level of Civil Service redundancy payments.
Employment Agencies
- There was little support expressed for the proposal for IPSA to work with recruitment agencies to help provide support staff for the post-election period. Several present felt it could cause more problems than it would solve.
Internships
- It was felt by some that by enforcing the law that interns should be paid the minimum wage, the number of internships available would be reduced.
Role of IPSA
- It was felt by some present that there was a need for improved auditing of money spent under the staffing budget, and that IPSA would be well placed to provide this function.
- The importance of the various inductions for new Members, and their staff was highlighted, with an IPSA presence being welcomed.
- The provision of advice from IPSA to Members and their staff was raised, with questions around the form this advice would take.
Other
- It was asked why submitted claims should not be redacted by the person submitting the claim, in the case where a receipt lists items that are not being claimed for.
- The Parliamentary Resources Unit and the services it provides to Members was mentioned, along with some specific concerns. These had been raised separately in a letter to IPSA.
- Several present commented that the need for MPs to produce an annual report would be costly, time-consuming, and would not provide any more information than will already be available.
Click here to go to the W4MP main page on IPSA
