Bulletin, 18 April (corporate plan, year-end, payment cards, data publication, communication, redundancy calculation guidance)

Updated: 18 April 2024

Welcome back after recess.

Today we have published our new Corporate Plan for 2024 to 2027.

We have introduced a new strategic priority – supporting trust in democracy – to acknowledge IPSA’s pivotal role in ensuring public understanding of the value of the money spent by MPs on their constituency and parliamentary duties.

Read our Corporate Plan 2024-27 and our Business Plan 2024-25.

  • Year-end form 2023-24

  • Payment cards

  • MPs’ business costs publication

  • Communicating with constituents

  • Redundancy calculation guidance

  • Phone lines

Year-end form 2023-24

If you need to complete a Year-end Form, please submit it along with the necessary supporting evidence on IPSA Online, to info@theipsa.org.uk by 23:59 on Friday 19 April 2024.

You can read this year's guidance, download a Year-end Form, and read the letter from our CEO Ian Todd by visiting Year-end 2023-24.

To speak to your dedicated Account Manager or Payroll Officer, book a call using the booking system and they will contact you at the allocated time.

Payment cards

The deadline for reconciling your Payment Card lines for March and earlier is Friday 26 April 2024.

All Payment Card lines for 2023-24 must have completed workflow by 26 April to be automatically accrued into the last financial year as part of our year-end process.

You only need to list Payment Card lines on your Year-end Form if you wish them to stay in the 2024-25 financial year. Any lines that are still outstanding (unreconciled and in workflow) after 26 April will be allocated to the 2024-25 financial year.

If you have used your payment card in April to pay for services that relate to the 2023-24 financial year, please include these on your year-end form. April lines will be uploaded onto IPSA Online in early May.

Any lines listed on your year-end form will have to be reconciled and complete workflow before 10 May in order to have them accrued back. Any lines listed as accruals on year-end forms that are still outstanding after 10 May will remain in 2024-25.

Anything still outstanding at the end of May will be shown as “Cost not reconciled” and your account manager will be in touch to request repayment. Please note that “Cost not reconciled” lines are published, as well as the repayments against them.

For information on how to reconcile your Payment Card in IPSA Online, visit Card payments.

MPs' business costs publication

We are due to publish details of MPs’ business costs for December 2023 and January 2024 on Thursday 16 May 2024, as part of our routine bi-monthly publication of data.

We publish these costs to provide members of the public with transparency over how public money is spent.

You can access the latest data on your business costs now using the publication preview service.

We would strongly advise that you check your data before it is published and contact us with any questions or concerns.

Communicating with constituents

As referenced in our Bulletin last month, we’d like to remind you of the rules about communicating with your constituents.

IPSA funding cannot be used to support campaigning, either on your behalf if you are standing as a candidate at the election, to promote your party or other candidates, or to criticise a party or other candidates.

It may be helpful to consider the following principles:

  • The communication must be for a parliamentary purpose. For example, you can distribute a leaflet to your constituents to inform them of upcoming surgeries or to update them on any casework you have been carrying out, provided the material is single-issue.

  • The communication must not be party-political. You are not allowed to claim from IPSA for costs associated with communication material that promotes or criticises a political party.

  • The communication must not be self-promotional or campaigning in nature. For example, you must not reference your plans to stand as a candidate or campaign for any policies you will enact if re-elected.

If you have any questions about whether your content complies with IPSA’s rules, please contact your IPSA Account Manager.

Redundancy calculation guidance

For MPs’ staff who have two years of continuous service with the same employer, if their employer stands down or loses their seat at the next election, they will receive a redundancy payment based on the number of whole years of continuous service (with the same MP) and other factors.

MPs’ staff can use the Calculate your redundancy pay tool for staff statutory redundancy payments.

IPSA will use the staff member's actual salary, not a 12-week average. Therefore, if any unpaid leave is taken during dissolution this will not impact redundancy payments.

We will issue specific guidance about any processes that should be considered as a result of the boundary changes, for example, where an MP is re-elected into a constituency and a move of constituency office is desirable.

The guidance will include information about how to deal with potential redundancy situations and whether a trial period should be considered.

IPSA and Members’ HR Advice are working together to ensure the guidance is clear for all concerned.

Phone lines

Our phone lines will be closed on Friday 3 May 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 Tuesday 7 May.