MPs leaving Parliament

If you lose your seat or stand down, you will need to make your employees’ jobs redundant.

As an employer, you have contractual and legal responsibilities to your staff.

This guide provides information that will help you meet these obligations.

It is important you keep your staff informed of their status and that you follow a formal procedure for making your staff members’ jobs redundant.

You can contact the Members’ HR Advice Service at 020 7219 2080 or by email at membershr@parliament.uk. They offer HR advice to MPs in their role as employers, including around staff redundancies.

The team is available to support you during the winding-up period.

For more information, visit Leaving office & employment.

You will also be given specific information at your meeting with IPSA and the Members’ HR Advice Service. You should consult with staff as soon as possible after this meeting and ensure you follow a fair procedure for making their jobs redundant.

Failure to do so could lead to you incurring additional costs or risk an employment tribunal claim against you for unfair dismissal.

You need to decide which staff you need to help wind down your parliamentary business after the Election, if any, and the last day of employment for each staff member.

Any staff you continue to employ during the winding-up period must have meaningful work to do along with a place to do the work.

The final day you can employ staff is the last day of the winding-up period.

Your staff will continue to receive their salary until their employment ends.

As always, staff whose salaries are being paid by IPSA cannot campaign or be involved in any political activities unless they take annual leave or unpaid leave.

Once the consultation is completed and you have responded to any queries raised by your staff, you should then confirm that their job is redundant by giving them a redundancy notice letter.

The Members’ HR Advice Service will provide template redundancy notice letters for guidance. The redundancy notices should be issued as soon as the formal redundancy consultation meeting has happened to ensure notice periods are worked.

The redundancy notice letter:

• Gives each employee formal notice of termination of their contract of employment and their final day of service.

• Sets out their entitlements, including what they can expect to receive in the way of a redundancy payment and how it is calculated, and any accrued but untaken annual leave and pay in lieu.

Once you have given your employees notice of redundancy letters, you must allow them reasonable time off, with pay, to look for other work, and to prepare for and attend interviews during their notice period. The individual should arrange this time off in advance with you and your HR proxy.

Redundancy payments are made by IPSA on the appropriate payday upon receipt of the Employee Leaver Form and a copy of the redundancy notice letter signed by the employer and employee via IPSA Online.

For advice on best practice, visit Leaving office & employment.

Redundancy payments

If your staff have two years of continuous service with the same employer, they will receive a redundancy payment, based on the number of whole years of continuous service (with the same MP) and other factors.

Staff on IPSA contracts will be entitled to twice their statutory redundancy entitlement.

Staff on non-IPSA contracts will normally be entitled to statutory redundancy, or what is stated in their contract.

You can use the gov.uk Calculate your redundancy pay tool for staff statutory redundancy payments.

Once IPSA has received the redundancy notices and Employee Leaver Forms (please see “What do I need to do?”), IPSA will make any redundancy payments to your staff and remove them from the payroll at the appropriate time.

Redundancy payments, as well as payments for Pay in Lieu of Notice (PILON) and untaken leave, will be paid from the Contingency Fund, rather than your Staffing Budget.

Other costs such as remaining salary, employer National Insurance and pension contributions and overtime pay, will be allocated to your Staffing Budget as normal.

Pay in lieu of notice (PILON)

Staff are normally expected to work until their final day of employment. If, exceptionally, there is no work for your employees to do, they would generally be entitled to payment in lieu of notice (known as PILON).

Notice periods will vary according to the individual terms and conditions of the employment contract of each of your staff, and their length of service.

Employees are entitled to the greater of their contractual and statutory notice period entitlement.

The length of service taken into account when calculating a statutory notice period is capped at 12 years.

So, if a staff member has been employed for less than one month, they will not be entitled to a statutory notice period.

If a staff member has been employed for one month to two years, they are entitled to a minimum of one week’s notice.

If a staff member has been employed for two years to 12 years, they are entitled to a minimum of two weeks’ notice plus an extra week for each additional year of continuous employment, up to a maximum of 12 weeks.

If a staff member has been employed for 12 years or more, they are entitled to a minimum of 12 weeks’ notice.

If a staff member’s contractual notice period is more than above, their contractual notice period applies.

Although it is up to you as the employer to decide at the point at which to give your staff notice of redundancy, IPSA expects you will do so at a point that allows you to wind up your affairs effectively, and also minimise the cost to the taxpayer of PILON.

It is expected that you would give your staff members notice of redundancy as soon as practically possible if they are not required to work during the winding-up period.

Please do not delay notice of redundancy in situations where your staff are genuinely not required.

During the 2019 General Election, approximately 78.6% of PILON payments may have been avoidable due to the late issuance of notice to staff members.

The full report can be found in the report Audit, Risk & Assurance: 2019 General Election.

At the next General Election, IPSA will not fund PILON costs for staff members where the notice period falls outside of the winding-up period.

This is because the winding-up period will be increased to four months and all staff members will be able to work out their notice period in that time if required.

PILON may still be claimable for staff members who are not required to work during the winding-up period.

For more information, visit Leaving office & employment.

Staff members on occupational family leave

Where staff member's jobs are made redundant (as a result of their employing MP leaving Parliament) while qualified for or in receipt of statutory pay entitlements for parental leave, former MPs may request that they receive the full amount of occupational pay they would have been entitled to, in relation to that period of parental leave, had their employment not ended.

Starting from the next General Election, you will have a four-month winding-up period during which you can continue to use your Office Costs, Staffing, Accommodation and Travel budgets in support of any remaining work to close down your affairs.

For more information, visit Summary of 2023-24 budgets.

Pro-rated budgets will be calculated once the date of the General Election has been announced and will appear on IPSA’s system on the day after Polling Day (this will happen earlier in the event you stand down).

The costs which may be funded after Polling Day include:

• Staff salaries, pensions and National Insurance costs.

• Other contractual liabilities for staff and offices/equipment (e.g. overtime worked, holiday taken, office rent).

• Travel costs.

• Costs incurred under your office lease.

• Postage, stationery and telephone costs.

• Data disposal (confidential paper and digital).

• Removals from IPSA-funded offices and accommodation, including the travel costs for your registered dependents and staff if they are assisting you. Removal costs can be claimed from the Contingency budget.

• Your residential accommodation rent, associated expenditure (for more information on end-of-tenancy cleaning, visit Cleaning costs reimbursement or End of tenancy cleaning costs) or hotel accommodation for up to a maximum of four months while you wind up your parliamentary business.

• If you receive disability assistance, you can continue to claim for existing measures on the same basis for up to four months.

These claims will be published in the usual way.

You can find more details about winding-up costs in the Scheme of MPs' Staffing and Business Costs.

After Polling Day, you are not permitted to:

• Purchase any new office equipment (including IT equipment) or furniture.

• Employ new staff members.

• Increase the salaries of your staff or submit any other contractual changes.

If there is an exceptional need, you must apply to the contingency fund.

For more information, visit Applying for contingency payment.

The normal rules apply with regard to bought-in services costs throughout the winding-up period.

Payments where staffing services are provided by companies, self-employed individuals, and others not on the MP’s payroll, can be funded from either the office costs budget or the staffing budget (please check our evidence requirements for further information), as long as the cost is related to the closing down of your office/affairs.

Please ensure you provide an explanation of why costs of this nature were required during the winding-up period when submitting them in IPSA Online

You will continue to have access to your Payment Card and direct payment facilities during the first two months of the winding-up period.

Using the Payment Card after the election will delay the completion of the winding-up process, so please consider whether this is the best option.

A quicker option is to claim advance payments, as per section 1.3 of the Scheme.

For more information, visit Bills IPSA can pay without a claim.

Before you can conclude your affairs with IPSA, you must do the following:

Former MPs must arrange for the disposal of their office equipment and furniture, which should be done safely and securely, in compliance with data protection legislation set out in the House of Commons dissolution guidance (among other things).

Because assets have been funded by the taxpayer for the purpose of MPs carrying out their parliamentary role, when MPs no longer have any parliamentary work to do it is IPSA’s duty to safeguard public money by ensuring that assets are correctly disposed of or the depreciated cost is repaid.

The costs relating to the disposal of office equipment and furniture may be claimed from your Office Costs Budget.

Once before the Election and once after Polling Day, IPSA will provide you with a list of capital equipment purchased during the previous five years which is more than £500 in cost.

Please keep clear records and be prepared to provide us with information on how you disposed of this equipment.

You will be asked to provide a receipt/proof of sale for any equipment that was donated or sold.

If any of the kit on the asset list has broken and has already been disposed of, you will need to declare this to IPSA.

The different disposal options you have for IPSA-funded IT equipment which was not purchased via the Parliamentary Digital Services (PDS)/XMA portal, IPSA-funded IT equipment which was purchased via the PDS/XMA portal and PDS-funded IT equipment are outlined in this table.

Methods of disposal

IPSA-funded IT equipment not purchased through PDS/XMA

Former MPs may choose to transfer items to another MP or donate them to a charity of their choice.

If equipment is donated to charity, IPSA must be provided with a receipt.

It is the MPs’ responsibility that all data is wiped from any device that is donated and failure to do this may result in a fine from the Information Commissioner’s Office.

If former MPs make any money from disposing of equipment, this must be refunded to IPSA.

Where former MPs or staff members choose to retain items, they will be required to repay an amount equivalent to the depreciated value of the item to IPSA.

The depreciated value will be calculated by our Finance team in advance of Polling Day. We will look at any equipment purchased in the past five years and the calculation will be based on the market value.

IPSA-funded IT equipment purchased through PDS/XMA

If you have PDS IT equipment that was IPSA-funded and supplied by XMA, we advise you to pass this equipment to PDS for wiping and disposal.

These devices have a yellow asset tag starting CMP00.

PDS will be able to repurpose any IT equipment that is not end-of-life.

If you would like your IT equipment to be transferred to another MP, then please let PDS know.

PDS will provide a list showing IT Assets that have been built to access the Parliamentary Network.

Please do not send equipment to PDS if it was not purchased through the PDS/XMA portal.

If you would like to purchase any laptop (Windows or MacBook) or desktop that was IPSA-funded and supplied by PDS/XMA then there will be an additional charge from PDS to cover the cost of courier, rebuild and administration.

This charge will be in the region of £250, but this policy has yet to be confirmed. Please contact PDS directly if you wish to do this. Please contact PDS directly if you wish to do this.

Please be aware that this fee is not claimable from IPSA as it is viewed as a personal cost.

PDS will not be able to return any device that is more than four years old due to security and value for money reasons.

PDS-funded equipment

For information on the disposal of PDS-issued kit (devices with a purple asset tag), please refer to the dissolution guidance published by the House of Commons.

For further information, please contact PDS directly by email at digitalservicememberservices@parliament.uk.

The Scheme does not cover reimbursement of routine cleaning costs at an MP's accommodation.

IPSA will, however, pay for professional cleaning costs at the end of a tenancy if these circumstances apply:

• The professional cleaning costs are incurred as a specific condition of the lease.

• The cleaning costs are incurred due to the MP leaving the property and terminating the lease.

• There is a sufficient amount in an MP’s accommodation budget to cover the cost.

Supporting evidence showing the condition in the lease and an invoice for the cleaning must be submitted with the claim.

Because a General Election can be called unexpectedly, we strongly advise all MPs to secure a break clause with a two-month notice period when negotiating a lease.

For more information, Negotiating a two-month break clause.

If you leave Parliament, IPSA will provide funding to cover rent for your office, accommodation, and other necessary costs for a four-month winding-up period after the General Election.

Failure to include a break clause with a two-month notice period will mean you are liable to pay the rent for all or part of the remaining contract.

In that event, it may be possible to surrender the lease to the landlord, sub-let or assign the lease to another tenant.

There would, however, be significant associated costs, and professional advice may be required.

There may be exceptional circumstances which mean you have been unable to secure a break clause that allows you to end your lease in time and become liable for costs beyond the end of the winding-up period (including associated costs and the cost of professional advice).

In such cases, you may consider applying for contingency funding. However, please bear in mind that the Panel will only consider genuinely exceptional circumstances.

IPSA’s guidance is clear on the importance of securing a break clause and all MPs are reminded of this when registering new leases.

If you decide to apply for contingency funding, the Panel will want to know why this case is exceptional or unexpected.

The more detail you can include in your application, the better. For example, why it has not been possible to have a break clause inserted into your contract and detail of the efforts you have made to secure one.

For more information about the contingency process, visit Requesting extra budget or speak to your Account Manager.

IPSA encourages MPs to give notice on their accommodation and office leases as soon as possible to ensure costs do not go beyond the winding-up period.

If you do not have an office to work from at any point during the winding-up period, and working from home is not an appropriate option, you are permitted to hire a temporary office space either in London or in your constituency.

However, please be reminded that parliamentary costs will only be funded for four months after Polling Day (the winding-up period).

IPSA will pay your salary up to and including Polling Day.

IPSA will send a payslip and your P45 showing your earnings and tax paid during the year to your home address after payday.

All other payslips are held on IPSA Online.

For more information, visit Accessing your payslip.

Please ensure you download these, plus your P60s, as soon as possible before you lose access (at the end of the winding-up period).

Staff members must ensure they download their payslips and P60s before their last day of employment (which may be before the end of the winding-up period).

For more information, visit Accessing your P60.

Since April 2019, taxable expenses are run through the Payroll, so IPSA no longer issues P11Ds.

Assuming you were an MP on the day before dissolution and you were a candidate for re-election in the same seat or a different seat, or you stood down, you will receive a winding-up payment (please see below for guidance on the boundary changes review).

The winding-up payment is calculated based on the sum of four months’ salary, net of tax and National Insurance contributions.

The winding-up payment will be paid through the first possible payroll after an Election.

In the event you lose your seat – or stand unsuccessfully in a different seat – you will also be eligible to receive a Loss of Office Payment (LOOP) equal to twice your statutory redundancy entitlement.

You can use the gov.uk Calculate your redundancy tool to work out how much you will receive.

Please be aware that MPs who have stood down are not entitled to LOOP.

MPs should note that monies owed can be deducted from LOOP to speed up the winding-up process.

IPSA will normally pay LOOP at the end of the winding-up period. However, where it deems necessary to manage significant financial risk, IPSA may delay payment until after former MPs have made certain arrangements to wind up their affairs, which may include:

• issuing redundancy notices to staff and sending instructions to IPSA

• repaying any outstanding debts to IPSA (such as repayment of deposit loans and overpayments)

• submitting all business costs claims for the period running up to the election (or the point at which the seat was vacated)

• carrying out administrative tasks, such as cancellation of the IPSA payment card, and/or

• any other necessary tasks identified by IPSA

Please be aware that LOOP and the winding-up payment will be treated in line with the prevailing tax law and HMRC guidance,

Consultation on Scheme changes

For more information on updates to the Scheme following IPSA's mid-year review, please visit Guidance on changes to the Scheme of MPs’ Staffing and Business Costs 2023-24.

For salary and payment information for MPs who have stood down, visit MPs standing down.

For information about MPs who have not been re-elected, please visit .

You will be advised individually of your pension entitlements and options by the administrators of the Parliamentary Pension Scheme – Buck.

You can contact them directly at 0330 123 0634 or by email at PCPF@buck.com.

You can also speak to the pensions team in the House of Commons by calling 020 7219 2106 or by email at pensionsmp@parliament.uk.

If you are unsure which budgets should be used for certain winding-up costs, the below table provides some clarity.

If you are unsure about a cost not included in the table, please Contact us.

*At the next General Election, IPSA will not fund PILON costs for staff members where the notice period falls outside of the winding-up period. This is because the winding-up period will be increased to four months and all staff members will be able to work out their notice period in that time if required. PILON may still be claimable for staff members who are not required to work during the winding-up period.