Ingenio Providencia

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) is the body created by Parliament to independently oversee and regulate MPs' business costs and expenses. IPSA was created in 2009 by the Parliamentary Standards Act. New rules governing MPs' expenses were introduced on 7 May 2010, immediately following the election by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act. IPSA has two main roles: we regulate the expenses system and we administer and pay MPs' expenses and their salaries. Parliament subsequently passed legislation creating a Compliance Officer for IPSA and giving us responsibility for determining MPs' pay and pensions. Our rules are a clean break from the old system of allowances. The new rules are fair (to MPs and the public purse), workable and transparent. We subject all expense claims to rigorous verification and auditing. We have clear processes enabling MPs to request reviews of our decisions, and members of the public can contact the Compliance Officerif they have concerns about a claim. IPSA is independent of parliament, government and of political parties. In everything we do, we focus on our main duty; to serve the interests of the public.