Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority: Cost Effectiveness
The question
To ask the hon. Member for Warrington North, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of asking the National Audit Office to undertake a value for money review.
Answered by Charlotte Nichols
The Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (SCIPSA) is a statutory Committee established under the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009. The Committee's functions are set out in that Act. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) was also created by the 2009 Act, as a statutory independent body.
Each year the Speaker's Committee reviews IPSA's annual estimate of the resources it needs to discharge its functions. SCIPSA is required by statute to ensure that the estimate is consistant with the efficient and cost-effective discharge of IPSA's functions. The Committee carries out public scrutiny of the estimate prior to it being laid before the House of Commons by the Speaker
IPSA's accounts are audited annually by the National Audit Office (NAO) and are presented to Parliament. The NAO audit includes consideration of value for money of both IPSA's spend and MPs' spend which IPSA oversees. IPSA is also subject to a rigorous internal audit programme overseen by its own Audit, Risk, and Assurance Committee.
Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →