The cost-of-living crisis has begun to bite but lucky MPs will be (partly) protected from the pinch. Their salaries are set to be hiked next month by £2,200 from £81,932 to £84,144 a year, following a review by IPSA, the independent watchdog established in the wake of the expenses scandal. The hike is set to coincide with energy bills soaring for millions of families and a National Insurance hike tax for workers – plus the consequences of whatever sanctions Mr Putin decides to inflict on us.
Understandably there’s been a bit of a backlash against the pay increase, with some in the Commons pledging to donate the extra cash to local charities. But the salary hike isn’t the only funding increase our elected masters will get to see. For IPSA have also increased their staffing and accommodation budgets by amounts higher than the 7.25 per cent peak of inflation predicted by the Bank of England for April.
Take the MPs’ accommodation budget for rental costs between 2021/22 and 2022/23. For those renting in the London area, they will see an inflation-busting 7.7 per cent increase in the amount they can claim from £23,290 last year to £25,080 from April. For those outside London, it’s even higher at 9.3 per cent from £16,320 to £17,840. For associated accommodation costs, the amount has risen for non-London MPs from £5,480 to £5,910; an increase of 7.8 per cent.
Then there’s the issue of staff. Back in 2020, MPs got given a temporary Covid uplift to assist with additional pandemic costs; this comes to an end at the end of this month. Together, the total staffing budget for 2021/22 and Covid uplift comes to £218,430 for a London MP or £204,300 for a non-London MP. But in 2022/23 the combined amount will be £237,430 for a London MP or £221,750 for a non-London MP; the equivalent of an 8.5 per cent increase or £19,000 and £17,450 extra respectively.
The office costs budget meanwhile has only risen by 4 per cent; but this includes a special £1,250 bonus for 2021/22 to cover home-working allowance. If you exclude that onetime allowance, the figure for London MPs and non-London MPs jumps by 8.5 per cent from £29,150 and £26,220 to £31,620 and £28,570. All this at the same time as IPSA are refusing to release details of MPs’ expense claims, with a six month backlog extending back to September 2021.
Good to see one group of workers being shielded from inflation at least.
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