Other types of support

Travelling to Parliament or other locations on parliamentary business will be the earliest business cost type incurred by most new MPs.

For MPs in non-London constituencies – commuting costs cannot be claimed.

Working from two locations can be costly and there are many travel options.

For more information, visit Travel & subsistence.

The Parliamentary Travel Office (PTO)

The PTO is managed by Reed & Mackay and it will book your flights and trains and invoice IPSA directly on your behalf.

The PTO can also secure rooms using your IPSA Payment Card details and has negotiated discounted rates with various conveniently located hotels in London.

Using the PTO ensures you do not need to initially fund your travel costs and claim them from IPSA, relieving the administrative burden and supporting your financial wellbeing.

The PTO is located in the Palace of Westminster. They can be contacted via email and telephone, and have a mobile app.

For more information, visit Parliamentary Travel Office – IPSA-funded travel.

You (and your staff) can claim the cost of:

• rail travel (including sleeper trains)

• air travel

• mileage for the use of cars, motorbikes and bikes

• taxis – where no other practical mode of transportation is available, you have been working late or where there is an emergency or security concern

• other transport as appropriate such as bus, tube, and boat

Setting up an online account with Transport for London is a convenient way to provide evidence and claim for travel around London.

You can continue using contactless payments but the account will record your travel history, enabling you to claim these costs from us.

You and your staff can also claim the cost of congestion charges, road tolls, car parking and care hire.

You can claim for the cost of travel:

• between your constituencies and Westminster

• within your constituencies

• to other UK locations

• to and from other countries within Europe

MPs’ staff can also claim for all travel above except for European journeys.

There are some rules governing hotel stays for which a full explanation can be found in The Scheme.

The most immediate information for you to be aware of is:

• Hotel stays are subject to nightly limits – £210 for hotels in London and £150 outside London.

• To ensure wise public spending, we ask MPs to attempt to source hotel rooms that represent value for money.

• In some circumstances, it may not be possible to secure a room within the nightly rate thresholds. In such an event MPs must demonstrate their efforts to find options – this could include, for example, a screenshot of a search.

• Where MPs have dependants – family members, children, or anyone for whom they have caring responsibilities – IPSA will fund their travel and hotel stay. Dependants must be registered on the IPSA Online system.

Your Account Manager is available to provide advice and for more information, visit Dependants.

For new MPs in your early weeks, please be aware we do not fund:

• commuting

• international travel (outside Europe) unless a Parliamentary recall requires an early/urgent return from an International location

• premium or first-class travel – anything other than standard or economy grade – unless this is cheaper and/or the same price as standard class options

What can and cannot be funded by IPSA

If any equipment required is below £50 it can be claimed through your office costs budget.

If the equipment you require does not appear on the list of equipment provided by PDS, this can be claimed through your office costs budget.

You are encouraged to speak to PDS before purchasing so they can advise on any cyber or information security issues.

If the equipment required is on the list of equipment provided by the PDS but you require a different specification, for example, then you will need to contact IPSA to explain why and provide a rationale.

For a full list of equipment PDS provides, visit Provision of IT equipment for Commons Members & their staff – PDS policy.

You can also download a copy of the policy.

IPSA expects you to have discussed this with PDS first in case your request can be provided by them.

Before contacting IPSA to seek approval, please consider the following:

• The specific reason for the purchase.

• Does the proposed cost represent value for money?

• Would this equipment purchase cause an issue for future repairs or ongoing support?

• Do you have sufficient funds in your office costs budget to purchase the equipment?

You can seek approval by emailing info@theipsa.org.uk outlining your request and addressing the points above, or by discussing this with your IPSA Account Manager.

Please do not purchase equipment without first discussing this with IPSA.

IPSA may also enquire with PDS to determine if a particular item of hardware is provided by PDS or not, and PDS will advise them, accordingly, providing technical input.

These arrangements will be kept under review until April 2025.

If you do incur the cost before seeking approval, repayment may be required if the item (or similar) could have been provided by PDS.

We provide additional support to MPs who have families and/or caring responsibilities.

You can register dependants with us so their travel costs can be claimed.

We can also provide additional funding for up to three dependants to help you secure suitable accommodation.

For more information, visit Dependants.

We support the differing needs of a diverse Parliament by supporting MPs who require workplace adjustments.

We also recognise the diversity of the MP staff workforce and support MPs in meeting their obligations as employers under the Equality Act 2010.

For more information, visit Disability assistance funding.

MPs are employers and this includes responsibilities beyond recruiting a staff team.

Members’ HR Service at Parliament can support you with your duties as an employer.

They can be contacted at membershr@parliament.uk or on 020 7219 2080.