Bulletin, 29 February (phone lines, security and wellbeing, data publication, webinars)

Date published: 29 February 2024

Our phone lines will be closed on Friday 8 March for training. If you have an urgent query that day, please email us and use the word ‘urgent’ in the subject line. Our normal phone service will resume on Monday 11 March.

  • New phone line hours

  • Security and wellbeing

  • MPs’ business costs publication – 14 March

Information you should still be aware of includes:

  • Year-end webinars and guidance

  • Payment card reminder

  • Pension webinar

New phone line hours

We are changing our phone line opening hours, as part of our commitment to improving customer service.

From Monday 4 March 2024 the new hours are:

  • Monday – Thursday: 0900-1700

  • Friday: 0900-1530

The changes to our operating hours will be tested over the next three months, after which we will make any necessary additional changes.

When contacting IPSA, for security and data protection purposes, please make sure you have your resource ID to hand. This is your individual six-digit number which can be found at the top right corner of IPSA Online.

Please continue to use the Call Booking Service for appointments with your named Account Manager, Payroll Officer, and Homes and Offices Services Team.

Security and wellbeing

The safety and wellbeing of MPs and their staff is a key priority for us. As referenced in the Bulletin we sent on 23 November 2023 last year, we made changes to how we publish travel expenditure and temporarily relaxed the rules around IPSA-funded travel so MPs can make use of taxis to and from Parliament or constituency offices, where it is felt necessary in the current circumstances.

Considering the ongoing concerns around safety and wellbeing, we have agreed that the temporary relaxation of these rules will continue until further notice.

Additional support is available from the wellbeing hub on the House of Commons intranet. The Employee Assistance Programme for MPs’ staff can be contacted via the Parliamentary Intranet.

You can also contact MSSS (Members’ Security Support Service) on 020 7219 2244 or by email: safe@parliament.uk.

As a reminder, we are not publishing details of individual journeys. We only publish travel costs as an aggregate as part of the annual publication.

We also do not publish claims for staff health and welfare costs in detail. Instead, we publish an aggregate total. This is an additional precautionary measure, to ensure your safety.

MPs’ business costs publication – 14 March

Please remember to check the latest batch of your business costs using the Publication preview service.

This is due to be published on Thursday 14 March 2024.

If you have any queries about your data, please contact us as soon as possible.

Year-end webinars and guidance

Our next webinar is on Tuesday 12 March at 2pm. To attend, please register on Eventbrite.

We have also published a recorded version of the webinar which explains the important things to action, and deadlines.

Watch the Year-end 2023-24 webinar.

Payment card reminder

Details of the January Payment Card spend have been uploaded onto IPSA Online and are due for reconciliation and approval by our validation team by 8 March 2024.

Please reconcile any outstanding lines by 8 March 2024 to avoid the risk of your card being suspended after this deadline.

Further information can be found in our Payment Card Policy and by visiting our guidance on reconciling your Payment Card.

MPs' staff pension webinar

The MPs' staff pension scheme provider, Legal & General, is running a webinar on Tuesday 5 March at 2:30pm to help you manage your future savings.

Register to attend the session on Eventbrite.

Pension reminders: