Bulletin, 9 November (MP staff wellbeing, annual publication, bi-monthly data publication, policy vacancy and living wage update)

Date published: 9 November 2023

This week is Parliament Week, an annual event, spreading the word about what Parliament is, what it does, and how you can get involved.

MP staff pension

The MPs' staff pension scheme provider, Legal & General, is running a webinar on Tuesday 21 November at 10:00am to help you manage your future savings.

Sign up to attend the session on Eventbrite.

Alternatively, you can watch this seven-minute video.

Pension reminders:

This week's bulletin contains information about:

  • MP staff wellbeing

  • Annual publication

  • Bi-monthly data publication

  • Policy specialist vacancy

  • Living wage

MP staff wellbeing

We recognise that events in the Middle East over the past month have led to an increased workload for many offices, with both additional casework and correspondence from constituents.

To help MPs’ staff, there is funding available from IPSA for training, health, welfare, and wellbeing.

For more information, visit MPs’ staffing budget – training, health, welfare and wellbeing.

If you are unsure if your activity is claimable, please check with us before you book.

Additional support is available from the wellbeing hub on the House of Commons intranet.

The EAP for MPs’ staff can be contacted via the Parliamentary Intranet.

Annual publication

Next week we plan to publish figures for business costs incurred by MPs for their parliamentary duties in the 2022-23 financial year.

We strongly advise that you check your data and contact us as soon as possible if you think anything has been missed.

We previously sent MPs a reminder email about their annual data from this address: ipsa_online@theipsa.org.uk.

MPs still have time to submit a commentary about their 2022-23 annual expenditure. The commentaries will be published alongside your data pages on IPSA's website.

For more information, visit MPs’ staffing and business costs.

Bi-monthly data publication

On Thursday 16 November, we plan to publish details of MPs’ business costs for June and July 2023 as part of our routine bi-monthly publication of data.

You can access the latest batch of your business costs now using the Publication preview service.

We strongly advise that you check your data before it is published.

Please contact us as soon as possible if you think anything has been missed.

Policy specialist vacancy

There are just 10 days left to apply for our Policy Specialist vacancy.

This role is part of the Policy and Publications team that provides advice to senior leadership and the Board on IPSA policy issues and is responsible for ensuring the Scheme of MPs’ Staffing and Business Costs remains up to date, fit for purpose, and aligned to IPSA’s strategic objectives.

This is a full-time, permanent role but we are also open to considering this as a secondment opportunity.

Read the full job description.

Find out how to apply.

Applications close on 19 November 2023.

Living wage

Last month details were announced about the new Voluntary Living Wage rates, which are independently calculated by the Living Wage Foundation.

This year the rate increased by 10% in the UK. It is now £12.00 per hour for the UK and £13.15 per hour for London.

To ensure MPs are able to pay the Voluntary Living Wage to all staff if they choose to, we have increased the maximum of the intern payscale to £25,643 per annum from 1 November 2023.

The MP Staff Contract and Job Description Tools have been updated to reflect this for any new interns you may employ.

If you want to award an increase to any current interns from 1 November – subject to affordability from your staffing budget – please complete the MP Contractual Changes Form in IPSA Online, and submit and approve it within our usual monthly payroll deadlines.