The recently published report from the House of Commons Members’ Expenses Committee into the Operation of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 contained some good recommendations for staff based on the oral and written evidence submitted by the branch earlier in the year. Three wins for the branch were the recommendations that staff groups should be included in consultations in the same way that statutory consultees have been in the past, that staff expenses should be paid promptly and direct to staff and that IPSA should review the remuneration for staff, including redundancy, to allow MPs to retain experienced staff and provide opportunities for interns.
The report said:
16. Impact on MPs’ staff
167. We received evidence from the Unite Parliamentary Staff Branch and the Members’ and Peers’ Staff Association about the impact of IPSA’s scheme on the terms and conditions of MPs’ staff. Some of the staff observations related to the difficulties of the claims process, and were similar to MPs’ observations. As one member of staff put it, “I feel the constituents have been let down by the amount of time we are diverted away from day to day business to deal with admin and expenses matters”. There were several criticisms relating to the impact on staff. Continue reading