Overview of 2025-26 Scheme changes
On 13 March, IPSA published the Scheme of MPs’ Staffing and Business Costs for 2025-26. The revised Scheme, which will come into effect on 1 April 2025, incorporates a number of changes made following the consultation which was conducted in late 2024. We are grateful to all who have engaged with us during the consultation and since.
In addition, we have published the final budgets for 2025-2026.
Below you can find a summary of the main changes to the Scheme.
This page will be updated with links to the relevant guidance, as soon as this becomes available.
Summary of changes to the 2025-26 Scheme
Regulatory Principles: The 2025-26 Scheme sets out revised Regulatory Principles for MPs to adhere to in order to access IPSA funding. The principles are similar to the existing Fundamental Principles but provide a clearer description of IPSA’s expectations and MPs’ responsibility in demonstrating they have been met. We will work with MPs and their staff to continue building a shared understanding of the Regulatory Principles, which will enable us to produce more comprehensive guidance about the new approach.
Recognising past service of MPs’ staff: The 2025-26 Scheme introduces new arrangements for the recognition of a staff member’s past service with different MPs as employers, for the purposes of redundancy pay and family leave pay. This means that if a staff member has qualified for certain payments through length of service with one MP employer, they would not need to do so again after moving to another MP. Certain conditions will apply, including a maximum break between employments of 60 days.
Inter-office staffing loans and secondments: The new Scheme reflects our intention to introduce a new process to facilitate staff members being ‘loaned’ to another MP’s office for short periods, and the ‘secondment’ of staff employed by outside organisations to support an MP’s parliamentary work. The aim is to provide MPs and their offices with the flexibility they need, for example to tap into experienced staff working for other MPs or other organisations to help them set up a new office, cover heavy workloads due to casework and more.
Constituent communications: The new Scheme does not include any new cap on the amount of funding which can be used for constituent communications and advertising. Although we consulted on this proposal, we were persuaded by the responses that doing so might unduly restrict an MP’s ability to communicate effectively with their constituents. We have lifted the long-standing prohibition of claims for newsletters, as we recognise that these types of multi-issue communications can offer good value for money. All communications produced with IPSA funding must align with the principles, rules and guidance in relation to their nature and purpose, including that they must not be party political or self-promotional.
Funding MPs’ work accommodation: From 1 April 2025, the Scheme will no longer permit MPs to rent accommodation from other MPs using IPSA funding. MPs will also need to have regard for a list of expectations (to be set out in guidance), aimed at mitigating the risk of undue personal financial gain for MPs, their family, friends and associates, before accessing accommodation funding.
Conflicts of interest: From 1 April 2025, IPSA will implement a new requirement for MPs to submit a declaration confirming that the relationship with a bought-in service does not contravene, or would not reasonably be perceived as contravening, the principle of integrity; and that the service is appropriate for what they are being contracted to undertake.
Parliamentary accountancy: Reflecting the change in HMRC rules (whereby MPs no longer are required to submit a self-assessment tax return just by virtue of being an MP), no further claims for accountancy or tax-related services relating to the 2024-2025 tax year or future years will be accepted.
Summary of changes to the publication of parliamentary expenditure
We know the data we publish is important as it provides people with the transparency they deserve over how public funds are used by MPs. At the same time, we know the data and costs we publish can lack context and be open to misinterpretation. Our website covers this topic in depth: Supporting democracy – understanding our 2023/24 data.
The changes we will introduce to the way we publish MPs’ business costs are:
Rent and pooled service subscription fees: From the 2025-26 financial year, expenditure on rent and pooled service subscription fees will be published as aggregate annual amounts per MP as a way of reducing the risk of misinterpretation of this data and ensuring that the costs are more clearly, accurately ,and fairly reflected.
Small-value items: From the 2025-26 financial year, we will publish items of expenditure under £50 in aggregate for each MP on an annual basis, broken down by cost type. We expect that this will reduce the risk that small-value items are taken out of context and that MPs and staff are discouraged from making legitimate purchases as a result.
Staff absence: From 2025-26 we will no longer attribute staff absence (i.e. payroll expenditure relating to staff members who are on long term sick leave, parental leave or special paid leave relating to armed forces reservist training) to specific MPs. Due to the limited risk that this data could identify a staff member, as well as potentially the impact of publication on staff wellbeing, we will instead publish an aggregate total for all MPs each year.