Other types of support

Travelling to Parliament or other locations on parliamentary business will be the earliest business cost type incurred by most new MPs.

For MPs in non-London constituencies – commuting costs cannot be claimed.

Working from two locations can be costly and there are many travel options.

For more information, visit Travel & subsistence.

The Parliamentary Travel Office (PTO)

The PTO is managed by Reed & Mackay and it will book your flights and trains and invoice IPSA directly on your behalf.

The PTO can also secure rooms using your IPSA Payment Card details and has negotiated discounted rates with various conveniently located hotels in London.

Using the PTO ensures you do not need to initially fund your travel costs and claim them from IPSA, relieving the administrative burden and supporting your financial wellbeing.

The PTO is located in the Palace of Westminster. They can be contacted via email and telephone, and have a mobile app.

For more information, visit Parliamentary Travel Office – IPSA-funded travel.

You (and your staff) can claim the cost of:

• rail travel (including sleeper trains)

• air travel

• mileage for the use of cars, motorbikes and bikes

• taxis – where no other practical mode of transportation is available, you have been working late or where there is an emergency or security concern

• other transport as appropriate such as bus, tube, and boat

Setting up an online account with Transport for London is a convenient way to provide evidence and claim for travel around London.

You can continue using contactless payments but the account will record your travel history, enabling you to claim these costs from us.

You and your staff can also claim the cost of congestion charges, road tolls, car parking and care hire.

You can claim for the cost of travel:

• between your constituencies and Westminster

• within your constituencies

• to other UK locations

• to and from other countries within Europe

MPs’ staff can also claim for all travel above except for European journeys.

There are some rules governing hotel stays for which a full explanation can be found in The Scheme.

The most immediate information for you to be aware of is:

• Hotel stays are subject to nightly limits – £210 for hotels in London and £150 outside London.

• To ensure wise public spending, we ask MPs to attempt to source hotel rooms that represent value for money.

• In some circumstances, it may not be possible to secure a room within the nightly rate thresholds. In such an event MPs must demonstrate their efforts to find options – this could include, for example, a screenshot of a search.

• Where MPs have dependants – family members, children, or anyone for whom they have caring responsibilities – IPSA will fund their travel and hotel stay. Dependants must be registered on the IPSA Online system.

Your Account Manager is available to provide advice and for more information, visit Dependants.

For new MPs in your early weeks, please be aware we do not fund:

• commuting

• international travel (outside Europe) unless a Parliamentary recall requires an early/urgent return from an International location

• premium or first-class travel – anything other than standard or economy grade – unless this is cheaper and/or the same price as standard class options

The Parliamentary Digital Service (PDS) provides all MPs and their Staff with all necessary hardware for the duration of their term.

For details of what this hardware includes visit Provision of IT equipment for Commons Members & their staff – PDS policy.

Paragraph 3.27 of the Scheme states:

“IPSA will not pay any claims for costs that are insurable or can be funded from other sources.”

IPSA will not provide funding for any hardware equipment that PDS could provide.

MPs should contact PDS for any alternative or additional equipment for themselves or their Staff.

In exceptional circumstances, IPSA may be able to provide additional equipment if PDS does not provide this.

Requests for additional equipment will require contingency funding.

Contingency funding

Before applying for contingency funding, consider the following:

• The specific reason for the purchase (PDS should be able to provide the rationale for not providing the equipment).

• Does the proposed cost represent value for money?

• Would this equipment purchase cause an issue for future repairs or ongoing support?

• Have any potential cyber-security risks been taken into account?

Specific information about contingency applications and the Contingency Panel’s decisions – and costs claimed from the contingency budget – are published on IPSA’s website in line with our publication policy.

Temporary position on claims for IT accessories

PDS is your first port of call for all new or replacement IT hardware equipment.

They can be contacted via email at digitalsupportdesk@parliament.uk and telephone at 0207 219 2001.

During the transition and as a temporary measure, we will allow claims for accessories – such as a replacement mouse or headsets – up to £50.

You must explain why the accessory was unavailable from PDS, or why it could not be provided by PDS in a suitable timeframe.

We will return claims if they are not accompanied by an explanation.

IPSA will not provide funding for any hardware equipment – including laptops, monitors, or iPads – that PDS have or can be provided by PDS.

This arrangement will be in place for the next few months, after which we will review the policy.

We will use the explanation you provide in the claims to identify how we, alongside PDS, can improve the system.

If you are unsure about buying equipment, please contact us before purchasing so we can advise.

We provide additional support to MPs who have families and/or caring responsibilities.

You can register dependants with us so their travel costs can be claimed.

We can also provide additional funding for up to three dependants to help you secure suitable accommodation.

For more information, visit Dependants.

We support the differing needs of a diverse Parliament by supporting MPs who require workplace adjustments.

We also recognise the diversity of the MP staff workforce and support MPs in meeting their obligations as employers under the Equality Act 2010.

For more information, visit Disability assistance funding.

MPs are employers and this includes responsibilities beyond recruiting a staff team.

Members’ HR Service at Parliament can support you with your duties as an employer.

They can be contacted at membershr@parliament.uk or on 020 7219 2080.