Letter to MPs, 27 January 2022, Year-end 2021-22 guidance

Dear Member of Parliament,

Our objective is to enable you to focus on what really matters by providing an exemplary, seamless regulatory service. We want to ensure effective regulation, delivered primarily by supporting MPs and their staff to achieve compliance.

A big part of this is to help you complete your year-end financial information. I am writing to you today with details of the processes and deadlines as we approach the end of the 2021-22 financial year in just over two months’ time.

At every stage of the process, our staff are available to help. Part of that support is to help you to manage your finances as we approach the end of the 2021-22 year. All Members of Parliament should check their financial position for this year and complete a year-end form where necessary to make sure spending is allocated to the correct year

Preparing your year-end paperwork need not be demanding or time-consuming. Our experienced team are on hand to help you understand the year-end requirements, prepare and submit your year-end paperwork and to answer any questions you may have.

Please refer to the comprehensive guidance provided by IPSA to assist you.

Please take into account any outstanding orders with suppliers, which have not been delivered yet, and purchases made by direct payments and your payment card. If we pay your rent directly to your landlord for you then we will automatically calculate the apportionment of costs across financial years on your behalf and deduct the costs accordingly. It is your responsibility to ensure that all other costs are apportioned appropriately.

The year-end process is an important part of the accounting calendar and applies to all organisations, whether in the public or the private sector. Information provided at year-end is part of the annual reporting summary which underpins our work to provide assurance to the general public that MPs’ use of public money is well regulated.

If you need to complete a year-end form please do so and submit it along with the necessary supporting evidence on IPSA Online, to info@theipsa.org.uk by 23:59 on Thursday 14 April 2022.

We will write to you by the end of August if it appears you have overspent on any of your 2021-22 budgets, asking for repayment where necessary.

Please note:

• Our policy is to not write off any debts or overspends except in exceptional circumstances.

• In line with other public bodies, we have a longstanding policy of not rolling forward budgets.

• In autumn 2022 we will publish any overspends which have not been repaid and written-off debts relating to 2021-22.

I know many of you are keen to plan your budgets for the next financial year. We will be able to confirm these after meeting with the Speakers Committee for IPSA in early March. In the meantime, the staffing budget uplift for the remainder of this parliament was confirmed in November. Full details can be found in our letter of 11 November 2021.

If you have any queries, please contact us. We are keen to help you through the year-end process and will publish dates for year-end training soon.

We are here to help you and your office team get this done.

Yours sincerely,

Ian Todd

Chief Executive

You can download a copy of this letter, read the 2021-22 year-end guidance, as well as access the form.