Staffing Support Fund

Published: 10 March 2026

Now that the creation of the staffing support fund has been confirmed, we will be providing details on how it can be accessed before the end of March. If you are already thinking about making a request for additional funding:

  • Please use the information about the staffing budget, staff development budget and staff pay ranges to forecast for the coming year. Use the tools available, including the yearly salary calculator.

  • MPs will need to sign off any requests made.

  • Office managers or MPs can get in touch with your Payroll Services Officer to start a discussion about what you think you need in terms of additional staffing support.

We understand that once MPs have made a request, offices will want to know the outcome as soon as possible (for example for recruitment). Payroll calculations can be complex. We will work hard to get back to you as quickly as possible, but we will not be able to respond immediately in most cases. Sometimes, we may need to have a few conversations with offices to understand how the office is operating and how IPSA can best support you.

This is a new way of accessing support funding from IPSA, so we will learn together with you and offices, and we thank you for your patience.

We will consider evidence of need, value for money, and an office’s plan for a more sustainable set-up in the longer-term.

To that end, if you want to make a request, we suggest that you start thinking about and gathering the following information so that you can share it with your Payroll Services Officer:

  • Evidence on casework volumes (if this is relevant to your request): how have volumes changed over time, e.g. 6 months, 1 year, 2 years? Why have they changed and what do you anticipate for the coming period?

  • The shortfall in your current staff complement: what would you need to get through the backlog and to a place where things are more sustainable? If you are intending to recruit staff, have you factored in recruitment costs and lead-in time, including for security clearance?

  • Workload and budget management: What has been tried so far to keep workloads manageable or to operate within budget, and what effect has this had?

  • Future arrangements: What is your longer-term plan? What changes do you have in mind to be able to manage once the temporary support has ended?

We will be publishing these costs in aggregate, to ensure transparency for members of the public and to enable us to assess the way the fund is used by offices.