Parliamentary

11
1. Chief Executive’s report
A Summary
1 This report covers activities undertaken
by IPSA during the financial year 2011-12.
This was IPSA’s second year of existence
and its first full year of operation.
2 In the previous year, 2010-11, IPSA
focused on setting up its operations,
delivering a series of improvements in
its administration, and carrying out its
first main review of the MPs’ Scheme
of Business Costs and Expenses (which
had been established before IPSA
became operational in May 2010). By
the end of the year, we were providing
a stable level of performance, regularly
meeting our performance targets, and
we had addressed a number of issues
within the Scheme rules which needed
to be changed to ensure MPs were
effectively supported to carry out their
parliamentary duties.
IPSA Achievement
IPSA was set up rapidly from a
standing start and in a challenging
political environment. An OGC
Gateway Review in June 2010 said
“the impossible has been delivered”.
3 In 2011-12, we have built on this foundation.
We published our first Corporate Plan
(www.parliamentarystandards.org.uk),
covering the period 2011-2015. This set
out our strategy and corporate objectives,
the detailed plans for delivering them and
fifteen performance measures against
which our progress could be judged.
In parallel, we prepared an Estimate
for 2011-12, setting out our funding
requirements to deliver the first year of
the Plan. The Speaker’s Committee for
IPSA (SCIPSA) approved the Estimate in
June 2011.
4 Our strategy and objectives are
summarised in Section 2. The report
below is structured around the objectives
and plans set out in the Corporate
Plan, and each part covers associated
performance targets. Key outcomes in
2011-12 were:
• In May and October 2011, Parliament
expanded IPSA’s remit by giving us
responsibility for setting MPs’ pay and
pensions respectively. In February
2012, we announced that we would be
continuing the pay freeze for MPs in
2012-13. In March 2012, as an interim
measure, we announced an increase
in pension contribution rates of 1.85
percentage points. In 2012-13, we
will carry out a full review of both pay
and pensions, including extensive
engagement and consultation with
statutory consultees, MPs and the
public.
IPSA Fact
IPSA’s remit expanded in 2011 when
we were asked by Parliament to take
on responsibility for MPs’ pay and
pensions.
• In 2011, we carried out a major
review of MPs’ staffing requirements.
The results of this were reflected in
the consultation we carried out as
part of the second main review of
the MPs’ Scheme of Business Costs
and Expenses, and were fed into the
revised Scheme published in March
2012.
• Throughout 2011-12, we introduced
a series of improvements to the
administration of the Scheme. These
were aimed at reducing the amount
of time MPs need to spend on making
IPSA Annual Report and Accounts 2011-2012