What do I do if I want an MP’s expenses investigated?
If you believe an MP has received a payment that should not have been allowed under the MPs’ Scheme of Business Costs and Expenses, please either e-mail details of your complaint or write to the Compliance Officer at:
compliance@parliamentarystandards.org.uk, or:
Compliance Officer for IPSA
7th floor,
Portland House,
Bressenden Place,
London,
SW1E 5BH
Please note that the Compliance Officer will not initiate an assessment or conduct an investigation of your complaint if more than 12 months have elapsed since the claim was published by IPSA, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Include in your request as much detail as you can in order to facilitate the assessment.
For more information see the Investigations section of our website.
For more information on what is permitted under the MPs’ Expenses Scheme, please click here
Complaints about MPs’ expenses paid prior to 7 May 2010 should be directed to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. For more information on the role and remit of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, please visit www.parliament.uk/pcs.What do I do if I want to complain about the conduct of my MP?
The assessment of an MP’s conduct falls within the remit of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, who is responsible for receiving and investigating complaints about Members who are alleged to be in breach of the Code of Conduct and Guide to the Rules.
For more information, please visit www.parliament.uk/pcs.
How long do investigations take?
Following our initial response, we aim to let you know every 28 days whether your complaint is still open.
If the complaint or allegation falls within the remit of the Compliance Officer, he will conduct an assessment to establish whether an investigation should be opened. If there is no merit in the allegation or if the Compliance Officer considers that opening an investigation would be unfair or disproportionate; he can reject the request.
At the conclusion of the assessment, you will be contacted and informed whether or not further action will be taken.
If the case is progressed to an Investigation, we will notify you of the outcome of the investigation. If no further action is to be taken, the Compliance Officer will give you his reasons for this decision.
The Compliance Officer is committed to ensuring all investigations are carried out in an independent and fair manner. Therefore, he will not provide detailed updates until the case has been concluded.
Will you keep me updated on the progress of the investigation?
Following our initial response, we aim to let you know every 28 days whether your complaint is still open.
If the Compliance Officer conducts a Preliminary Investigation, we will advise you upon its conclusion whether your complaint will be progressed to a Substantive Investigation, or whether no further action will be taken.
If the case is progressed to a Substantive Investigation, we will notify you of the outcome of the investigation.
If no further action is to be taken, the Compliance Officer will give you his reasons for this decision. The Compliance Officer is committed to ensuring all investigations are carried out in an independent and fair manner. We are therefore unable to provide detailed updates until the case has reached a conclusion.
I am an MP and I want to request a review of IPSA’s determination of my claim, how do I do this?
If you wish to request a review of a claim that has been refused or partially refused by IPSA then, providing it has already been reconsidered by IPSA’s internal review function, please either e-mail or write to the Compliance Officer enclosing details of why you believe your claim should have been allowed under The Scheme.
compliance@parliamentarystandards.org.uk, or:
Compliance Officer for IPSA
7th Floor, Portland House,
Bressenden Place,
London, SW1E 5BH
For more information see the Reviews section of our website.
How long will it take to complete a Review?
The legislation governing the role of the Compliance Officer does not stipulate a timeframe. Whilst the overriding principle of the review process will always be thoroughness as opposed to expedience, the aim would be to complete and publish the results of the review within 20 working days.
I want to complain about IPSA, will the Compliance Officer deal with this?
The Compliance Officer does not deal with complaints about IPSA or IPSA’s service; the Compliance Officer is only responsible for assessing complaints about paid claims, and reviewing determinations made by IPSA at the request of an MP.
Complaints regarding IPSA’s service should be directed through IPSA’s internal complaints procedure, which is available on the IPSA Website at www.parliamentarystandards.org.uk
Does the Compliance officer deal with suggestions for improvement to the MPs’ Expenses Scheme?
Suggestions for improvements to the Expenses Scheme should be emailed to IPSA at info@parliamentrystandards.org.uk, or sent to
IPSA
7th Floor Portland House
Bressenden Place
London SW1E 5BH.
If the suggestions are made in response to a public consultation, a designated email address will be made available by IPSA at www.parliamentarystandards.org.uk.