MPs eye expenses cash for staff bonuses
Parliament’s expenses watchdog has had to turn down MPs’ requests to use their allowances to pay for staff bonuses, it has emerged.
An email from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) seen by politics.co.uk clarified to MPs that they are not permitted to use their allowances to temporarily boost their staff’s salaries.
“The staffing expenditure budget is not an allowance and cannot be used to pay for bonuses,” its bulletin released on Wednesday stated.
“Trying to use a temporary increase in salary to provide end of year bonuses to staff is not in accordance with the expenses scheme.”
MPs had hoped to use their expenses to pay for bonuses when their allowances fell under the budget limit for staffing expenditure, the email added.
An Ipsa consultation ending in one week’s time which is expected to shake up the existing regime, put in place after the expenses scandal of 2009 rocked parliament’s reputation, leaves the door open for existing rules to change.
Widespread alterations are expected as the regulator responds to sweeping concerns about the existing system. Leader of the Commons Sir George Young yesterday said rules governing allowances were “failing” MPs.
The consultation document says Ipsa is not prepared to reimburse MPs “for the payment of bonuses” but adds: “However, Ipsa does not wish to prevent MPs from rewarding exceptional performance, so long as they are able to do so from within existing resources.”
It suggests good performance can be rewarded via a small-scale reward and recognition scheme – as used by Ipsa for its own staff – to increases in pay or bonuses.
“Ipsa would not wish to allow bonuses, but it is willing to consider other appropriate methods,” the document added.
“This does not need to be in the scheme, but Ipsa would like to use this consultation to discuss the issues with MPs and their staff, and to gauge public reaction.”
An Ipsa spokesperson said the bulletin addressed the issue following concerns from MPs.
But he declined to reveal how many MPs or their offices had enquired about the issue. Staff bonuses was not an issue of “general concern”, the spokesperson said.
