Rules and eligibility

IPSA provides funding for MPs to fulfil their parliamentary responsibilities. This includes funding to support working across two locations, assisting constituents, travel arrangements and workplace adjustments.

MPs may be eligible for the following budgets:

• Accommodation

• Office costs

• Staffing

• Travel

• Disability support

• Additional support funding

Additional funding may be available for MPs with dependants and/or caring responsibilities. Read more guidance.

In the event an MP ceases to be a Member of Parliament, IPSA may also provide funding during the winding-up period to support them in closing down their affairs. Read more guidance.

IPSA may at its discretion and on an individual basis provide any additional financial assistance to MPs it deems necessary to assist them in carrying out their parliamentary functions.

MPs are responsible for planning, forecasting and managing their own budget using the tools available on IPSA Online.

MPs should ensure they have staff supporting them with a good understanding of financial and budget management.

Unless stated otherwise, all budgets and limits apply to the financial year from 1 April to 31 March.

MPs and staff members must read and understand the Scheme and guidance that set up the requirements that must be met to receive funding.

IPSA may adjust budgets proportionately if they are allocated after the start of the year or are closed before the end of the year. Read more guidance.

Guidance updated on April 2026.

We recognise that MPs approach their roles differently and we allocate funding in a way that allows discretion to make choices about how MPs carry out their work. This discretion is not absolute and must be exercised reasonably taking account of our regulatory principles.

There are specific activities that would never be aligned to our regulatory principles. While not an exhaustive list, no IPSA funding will be provided for the following:

• Attendance at political party conferences or meetings

• Work conducted for or at the behest of a political party

• Activities relating to reviews of parliamentary constituency boundaries

• Activities whose purpose is to give MPs a campaigning advantage in general elections and referendums

• Work relating to delegations to an international assembly

• Work relating to the performance of ministerial functions

• Costs of a personal nature including financial or tax advice

• Rent, fees or other payment where the MP, another MP or a connected party is the supplier or landlord

• Purchase of alcohol

• Penalty charges or other avoidable charges such as those for late payments

• Costs that are or should be insured or should be funded from other sources

Guidance updated on April 2026.

MPs are responsible for complying with IPSA’s regulatory principles and the requirements of the Scheme.

IPSA regulates in an enabling way, providing MPs with flexibility to manage their parliamentary affairs within the regulatory principles. This discretion is not absolute and must be exercised reasonably in line with IPSA’s regulatory principles and the Scheme.

Before requesting any funding from IPSA, MPs must read and understand the Scheme and principles within it and relevant guidance.

When accessing and using public funds, MPs are expected to adhere to these four principles:

Principle 1: parliamentary purpose

• MPs may only access IPSA funding for costs they or their staff incur as a result of their parliamentary functions.

• MPs must not use funding to support any electoral campaigning, political party or other outside organisation.

• MPs must not use funding for costs relating to activities that are explicitly or primarily aimed at promotion of their own political profile.

• MPs must ensure there is no other more appropriate source before seeking IPSA funding.

Principle 2: value for money

• MPs must take proportionate steps to achieve value for money in all decisions made about the use of IPSA funding.

• MPs are expected to exhibit good financial management including in planning their expenditure to ensure, insofar as possible, they are able to remain within the budgets provided to them by IPSA.

• MPs should ensure they have staff supporting them with a good understanding of financial and budget management.

Principle 3: integrity

• MPs must be objective in their decisions about how they spend IPSA funding, including in choosing suppliers of good and services.

• MPs' decisions must not be aimed at gaining financial or other material benefit for themselves, their family, friends, political associates or other connected individuals.

• MPs must be able to show they have considered perceived or real conflict of interest, and that they not been influenced in their decisions about using IPSA funding by any interest or relationship.

Principle 4: accountability

• MPs are accountable for their decisions and must be prepared to explain how they have assured themselves that their actions are in line with IPSA’s rules, guidance and regulatory principles.

• MPs must accept their responsibilities as employers, adhering to good employment practices and seeking expert advice as needed.

• MPs are responsible for overseeing the actions of their staff members and, to the extent that could be reasonably be expected, ensuring their staff use IPSA funding in line with IPSA’s rules, guidance and regulatory principles.

• MPs must deal with IPSA in an open and cooperative way and must provide information relating to their staffing and business costs that IPSA would reasonably need to perform its statutory functions.

Guidance updated on April 2026.

IPSA supports MPs and their staff to comply with the rules and principles of the Scheme through excellent customer service, education, coaching and providing additional regulatory guidance online.

Where an MP or staff member is unsure how activities or spending aligns with the regulatory principles, please contact your account manager or payroll officer.

You can also see our webinars which provide bitesize training sessions on different aspects of the Scheme and using IPSA Online.

Under the Scheme, MPs’ constituencies include any location that is within 20 miles of the constituency boundary.

MPs representing a London constituency are called London area MPs. Those representing constituencies outside London are termed non-London area MPs.

London-area constituencies

• Barking

• Battersea

• Beaconsfield

• Beckenham and Penge

• Bermondsey and Old Southwark

• Bethnal Green and Stepney

• Bexleyheath and Crayford

• Brent East

• Brent West

• Brentford and Isleworth

• Brentwood and Ongar

• Bromley and Biggin Hill

• Broxbourne

• Carshalton and Wallington

• Chelsea and Fulham

• Chingford and Woodford Green

• Chipping Barnet

• Cities of London and Westminster

• Clapham and Brixton Hill

• Croydon East

• Croydon South

• Croydon West

• Dagenham and Rainham

• Dartford

• Dorking and Horley

• Dulwich and West Norwood

• Ealing Central and Acton

• Ealing North

• Ealing Southall

• East Ham

• East Surrey

• Edmonton and Winchmore Hill

• Eltham and Chislehurst

• Enfield North

• Epping Forest

• Epsom and Ewell

• Erith and Thamesmead

• Esher and Walton

• Feltham and Heston

• Finchley and Golders Green

• Greenwich and Woolwich

• Hackney North and Stoke Newington

• Hackney South and Shoreditch

• Hammersmith and Chiswick

• Hampstead and Highgate

• Harlow

• Harrow East

• Harrow West

• Hayes and Harlington

• Hendon

• Hertford and Stortford

• Hertsmere

• Holborn and St Pancras

• Hornchurch and Upminster

• Hornsey and Friern Barnet

• Ilford North

• Ilford South

• Islington North

• Islington South and Finsbury

• Kensington and Bayswater

• Kingston and Surbiton

• Lewisham East

• Lewisham North

• Lewisham West and East Dulwich

• Leyton and Wanstead

• Mitcham and Morden

• Old Bexley and Sidcup

• Orpington

• Peckham

• Poplar and Limehouse

• Putney

• Queen's Park and Maida Vale

• Reigate

• Richmond Park

• Romford

• Ruislip, Northwood, and Pinner

• Runnymede and Weybridge

• Sevenoaks

• Slough

• South West Hertfordshire

• Southgate and Wood Green

• Spelthorne

• St Albans

• Stratford and Bow

• Streatham and Croydon North

• Sutton and Cheam

• Thurrock

• Tooting

• Tottenham

• Twickenham

• Uxbridge and South Ruislip

• Vauxhall and Camberwell Green

• Walthamstow

• Watford

• Welwyn Hatfield

• West Ham and Beckton

• Wimbledon

• Windsor

See guidance on Outer London constituencies.

Under the principle of integrity, care must be taken when dealing financially with ‘connected parties’ - our term for immediate members of MPs’ families and business partners with whom they share significant interests.

MPs must ensure their decisions do not provide a benefit to themselves of a connected party. The full definition of a connected party is:

• Spouse, civil partner or cohabiting partner of the MP

• Parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece of the MP or spouse, civil partner, or cohabiting partner of the MP

• A body corporate, firm or trust with which the MP is connected, as defined in section 252 of the Companies Act 2006

Connected parties and IPSA's regulatory principles

MPs must complete their own due diligence to identify a connected party when using IPSA funding.

To meet our regulatory principles of integrity and value for money, MPs must be objective in their decisions about how they spend IPSA funding and must take proportionate steps to achieve value for money.

MPs must be able to show that they have considered perceived or real conflicts of interest and that they have not been unduly influenced by any interests or relationships.

What IPSA will not fund

IPSA will not fund the purchase of goods or services where the MP or a connected party, as defined by the Companies Act 2006, is the provider of the goods or services in question.

IPSA will also not fund accommodation where the MP or a connected party is the direct or indirect owner of the property.

Employees who later become connected parties

IPSA will not pay the salaries and other costs of any new employees who are connected parties.

If employees are not connected parties when initially employed by MPs but become connected parties later, IPSA will only fund their salaries and other costs for a period of up to 24 months after the point at which they become connected parties.

MPs must notify IPSA whenever an employee becomes a connected party during their employment.

To make a declaration, complete the Connected Party Declaration Form.

Example of when funding would be allowed

The MP is looking for a new cleaning service for their constituency office.

One of the suppliers is a local party member who supplies quotes for their services. To benchmark the costs and services, the MP decided to obtain additional quotes.

The MP receives a quote from another supplier who can provide a comparable service at the same cost.

The MP is conscious of their connection to the party individual and how this could be seen to influence their decision making and/or future business dealings with them. They remove the conflict of interest by selecting the other supplier.

The MP has demonstrated value for money by obtaining several quotes for the most effective service. The MP has also demonstrated integrity by not selecting a supplier with a connection to them rather than another supplier who can provide the same services at the same cost.

Example of when funding would not be allowed

An MP is looking for new accommodation in London.

The MP's daughter has a long-term partner who owns property in London. They offer this to the MP as it would be convenient for both of them for the MP to occupy this property. To make this transparent, they agree the rental amount based on comparable market rates and provide a legal contract for the rental period.

While there may be a legitimate rental contract in place and while the owner of the property is not related in the legal sense, there is a real or perceived benefit. Arguably the property owner could be considered ‘friends or family’ of the MP and stand to gain by the use of public money.

Funding for this accommodation would not be allowable under the Scheme.

Guidance updated on April 2026.

In line with the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009, any duty of IPSA to provide funding for any costs for an MP is subject to anything done in relation to the MP in the exercise of the disciplinary powers of the House of Commons.

Guidance updated on April 2026.

IPSA's priority is to support MPs and their staff members to understand their responsibilities in relation to the Scheme and to comply with its principles, rules and guidance.

Where non-compliance is identified, regulatory actions will be applied in a targeted and proportionate way based on the circumstances and assessment of risk.

In cases of persistent, serious and/or wilful non compliance with the Scheme and supplementary guidance, IPSA will take more significant regulatory action, potentially including:

• Restricting an MPs’ use of IPSA funding for certain types of costs or through certain mechanisms

• A letter of concern or a letter of non-compliance, which may be published

• Referral to the Compliance Officer for IPSA

• Referral to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards or another appropriate regulator

• Where there is evidence of criminality, referral to the police

Guidance updated on April 2026.

• IPSA will publish information relating to MPs’ costs on our website in accordance with our Publication policy – learn more.

• If you are unsure if an activity constitutes campaign expenditure or election expenses, please contact the Electoral Commission.

• For information about security measures, visit the Members’ Security Support Service.