MPs are to receive a pay rise of 3.1% bringing their annual basic salary to £81,932 from April this year, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority has announced.
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority said the annual adjustment to MPs’ basic pay for 2020-21 was in line with its decision in 2015 to adjust the salary at the same rate as changes in public sector earnings published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS).
The rise is above the rate of inflation, which was 1.8% in the most recent CPI figures for January 2020.
It means MPs' salaries will increase by just under £2,500 a year.
There is also going to be an extra £20m for MPs to pay their staff, meaning the 650 MPs will will get £21,900 more to pay staff in London and £21,600 more to pay for staff outside the capita - rises of more than 13%.
Richard Lloyd, IPSA interim chairman, said: “Our review of MPs’ staffing budgets in 2019 found demands on MPs’ offices were high, with staff doing difficult and stressful casework with constituents on a very wide range of problems.
“There was often high staff turnover, with salary levels below comparable roles elsewhere, based on independent benchmarked evidence. In many MPs’ offices, relatively little time or money was spent on staff training, well-being and development.
“As a result, we have provided additional funding in MPs’ 2020-21 staffing budgets for staff training and welfare, security, and changes to the salary bands and job descriptions for MPs’ staff to bring them into line with the jobs they actually do.
“This action demonstrates IPSA’s ongoing commitment to supporting MPs and their staff to serve their constituents, and we will review this over the next year, in line with our assurance work.”
