MPs have been awarded a pay rise to £91,346 by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA).
The latest rise equates to a 5.5% increase in salary and will take effect for the 2024/25 financial year. MPs’ pay for the past year has been £86,584.
Members of the House of Commons do not control their own pay, a function carried out by IPSA – a body created in the wake of the expenses scandal.
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IPSA said Thursday’s announcement puts MPs’ increase in salary in line with the 5.5% recently awarded to senior members of the Civil Service.
It noted that the figure that is usually used to calculate the pay rise – an average taken across the whole public sector – had been distorted by “exceptional payments” made to some job holders.
This included one-off cost-of-living bonuses, which were used to settle industrial disputes with some sectors.
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“Given that one of the pay principles we use – that of reflecting the experience of other working citizens – could not be met by the metric published in December 2023, we decided to move away from using the measure for the 2024 pay increase,” IPSA said.
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IPSA was created in 2009 following the expenses scandal and was initially set up to manage claims from MPs. Its role was later expanded to cover politicians’ salaries as well.
Before this, MPs set their own pay.
When IPSA took over, MPs took home around £65,000 a year.
Richard Lloyd, the chair of IPSA, said in its most recent report: “There are many myths and misconceptions about MP funding that threaten to undermine confidence in democracy.”
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He laid out some common misconceptions, noting that: “MPs do not decide what their pay should be.
“The funding for running offices and employing staff does not go to MPs as a ‘top up’ to their salary.
“MPs do not get their own home paid for or their personal bills paid by the taxpayer.”
