Parliamentary

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The Speaker’s Committee, Chair and
members of IPSA
5 The Speaker’s Committee for IPSA was
established under the Parliamentary
Standards Act 2009. Its current members
include the Speaker, the Rt Hon John
Bercow MP, the Rt Hon Sir George Young
MP, Sir Bob Russell MP, the Rt Hon
Nicholas Brown MP, Laura Sandys MP,
the Rt Hon Angela Eagle MP, Charles
Walker MP and the Rt Hon Kevin Barron
MP. In addition the Committee has three
lay members: Dame Janet Gaymer, Sir
Anthony Holland and Elizabeth McMeikin.
6 The Committee has two key roles:
a) it considers the candidates proposed
by the Speaker for the posts of Chair
and members of IPSA before these
candidates are appointed by Her
Majesty the Queen on an address of
the House of Commons; and
b) it reviews IPSA’s annual Estimate of
the resources it needs, before the
Estimate is laid before Parliament.
Its aim in doing so is to ensure the
Estimate is consistent with the
efficient and cost-effective discharge
of IPSA’s functions.
7 Information about the Chair and
members of IPSA is at Section 2.
Main activities and objectives
8 The Chief Executive’s report at Section 1
contains a commentary on IPSA’s main
activities and objectives.
Governance
9 The Parliamentary Standards Act 2009
appointed the Comptroller and Auditor
General, Head of the National Audit
Office, as the external auditor for IPSA.
As disclosed in the notes a total notional
cost of £85,000 was incurred in the audit
services provided by the Comptroller and
Auditor General.
10 The Internal Audit service is provided
by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC),
who report to IPSA’s Audit and Risk
Committee.
11 IPSA has established governance
procedures in line with Cabinet Office
guidelines, which are set out below in the
Governance Statement.
Policy for payment of suppliers
12 IPSA’s policy is to pay bills in accordance
with contractual conditions or, where no
such conditions exist, within 30 days of
the receipt of goods and services or the
presentation of a valid invoice, whichever
is the later. During the past year, IPSA
paid 90% of its invoices by value within
the target period.
Climate change
13 The need to adapt to climate change
is taken into account when IPSA is
designing its policies. A risk assessment
will be made of how climate change could
affect a policy, programme or project. The
depth of the assessment is proportionate
to the costs, benefits and risks involved.
IPSA Annual Report and Accounts 2011-2012