MPs get £2,500 pay rise, bringing salaries to £82,000

5 March 2020, 15:43

MPs are due to get an inflation-busting 3.1 per cent pay rise next month, bringing their pay to almost £82,000.

From 1 April, basic pay for MPs will increase from £79,468 to £81,932 the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) has said.

The rise compares to an inflation rate of 1.8 per cent, and is automatic and not subject to a vote in the House of Commons.

This will mark a £16,194 increase in basic pay since 2010, and comes after IPSA said two years ago it would adjust wages in line with other public sector earnings.

Recent wage growth statistics from the Office of National Statistics in December showed a 2.9% increase.

MPs who also serve as select committee chairs will receive an additional £16,422 on top of their base pay.

This committee wage is a rise of £494 from last year's £15,928.

According to IPSA interim chair Richard Lloyd, reviews of staffing budgets for MPs found that office demands were high, while staff were carrying out "difficult and stressful casework with constituents on a very wide range of problems."

He added: "There was often a 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, wellbeing 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."

IPSA does not have a say in ministerial salaries, but figures from the Cabinet Office show the prime minister was entitled to a second salary of £79,286.

Senior ministers could have a salary of up to £71,090; however, the actual demand ended up being around £4,000 less than this.