Statistics relating to MPs' staff

Request

  1. Please supply the total number of staff employed by MPs across the following job descriptions:

    1. Office Manager

    2. Senior Caseworker

    3. Caseworker

    4. Senior Researcher/ Parliamentary Assistant

    5. Researcher/ Parliamentary Assistant

    6. Senior Secretary

    7. Junior Secretary

  2. Please supply the mean average number of staff employed by each MP across the following job descriptions:

    1. Office Manager

    2. Senior Caseworker

    3. Caseworker

    4. Senior Researcher/ Parliamentary Assistant

    5. Researcher/ Parliamentary Assistant

    6. Senior Secretary

    7. Junior Secretary

  3. Please supply the median number of FTE staff employed by each MP for the following scenarios:

    1. The median FTE staff for all MPs

    2. The median FTE staff for MPs’ with constituencies in each social deprivation quintile

    3. The median FTE staff by electorate size

    4. The median FTE staff in urban constituencies

    5. The median FTE staff in rural constituencies

    6. The median FTE staff in the London area

    7. The median FTE staff in each of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

  4. Please supply the mode number of FTE staff employed by MPs for each of the following scenarios:

    1. The mode FTE staff for all MPs

    2. The mode FTE staff for MPs’ with constituencies in each social deprivation quintile

    3. The mode FTE staff by electorate size

    4. The mode FTE staff in urban constituencies

    5. The mode FTE staff in rural constituencies

    6. The mode FTE staff in the London area

    7. The mode FTE staff in each of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

  5. Please supply details of the statistical range of FTE staff employed by MPs for each of the following scenarios:

    1. The range FTE staff for all MPs

    2. The range FTE staff for MPs’ with constituencies in each social deprivation quintile

    3. The range FTE staff by electorate size

    4. The range FTE staff in urban constituencies

    5. The range FTE staff in rural constituencies

    6. The range FTE staff in the London area

    7. The range FTE staff in each of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

  6. Please supply details of the highest and the lowest number of FTE staff employed by MPs for each of the following scenarios:

    1. The highest and lowest number of FTE staff for all MPs

    2. The highest and lowest number of FTE staff for MPs’ with constituencies in each social deprivation quintile

    3. The highest and lowest number of FTE staff by electorate size

    4. The highest and lowest number of FTE staff in urban constituencies

    5. The highest and lowest number of FTE staff in rural constituencies

    6. The highest and lowest number of FTE staff in the London area

    7. The highest and lowest number of FTE staff in each of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

  7. Please supply details of the average (mean) number of a) Office managers b) Senior Caseworkers c) Caseworkers d) Senior Researchers/ Parliamentary Assistants e) Researchers/ Parliamentary Assistants f) Senior Secretaries and g) Junior Secretaries employed for each of the following scenarios:

    1. By social deprivation quintiles

    2. By the MP’s electorate size

    3. By urban constituency

    4. By rural constituency

    5. For MPs in the London area

    6. For MPs in each of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

  8. Please supply the number of MPs who employ:

    1. No Staff

    2. Less than 1 FTE member of staff

    3. Between 1 and 2 FTE members of staff

    4. Between 2 and 3 FTE members of staff

    5. Between 3 and 4 FTE members of staff

    6. Between 4 and 5 FTE members of staff

    7. More than 5 FTE members of staff

  9. What is the maximum number of FTE members of staff employment by any MP and what job descriptions are held by these staff?

  10. How many successful applications have IPSA received in the last financial year to increase the salary of Members of staff? Please supply a breakdown of these successful applications by each of the following job descriptions:

    1. Office Manager

    2. Senior Caseworker

    3. Caseworker

    4. Senior Researcher/ Parliamentary Assistant

    5. Researcher/ Parliamentary Assistant

    6. Senior Secretary

    7. Junior Secretary

  11. Of the successful applications for increases in Members’ staff’s salaries, how many of these increases were awarded to people earning below the IPSA minimum pay bands for their role prior to the increase being awarded? Please supply a breakdown of these successful applications by each of the following job descriptions:

    1. Office Manager

    2. Senior Caseworker

    3. Caseworker

    4. Senior Researcher/ Parliamentary Assistant

    5. Researcher/ Parliamentary Assistant

    6. Senior Secretary

    7. Junior Secretary

  12. Of the staff who received the pay increases referred to in question 11, how many of these staff remained below the IPSA minimum pay bands after the successful application?

  13. In the last financial year how many staff a) began their employment with an MP b) left their employment with an MP? Please supply breakdowns for each of these scenarios for the following job descriptions:

    1. Office Manager

    2. Senior Caseworker

    3. Caseworker

    4. Senior Researcher/ Parliamentary Assistant

    5. Researcher/ Parliamentary Assistant

    6. Senior Secretary

    7. Junior Secretary

  14. What was the average (mean) duration of employment for MPs’ staff for each of the following job descriptions:

    1. Office Manager

    2. Senior Caseworker

    3. Caseworker

    4. Senior Researcher/ Parliamentary Assistant

    5. Researcher/ Parliamentary Assistant

    6. Senior Secretary

    7. Junior Secretary

Response

You requested a large quantity of statistical information relating to MPs staff members, including statistical analysis of salaries, job titles, duration of employment, the number of Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs) and other categories of analysis.

I can confirm that IPSA holds some of the information that falls within the description specified in your request. However, the information we hold is not in a form that can easily answer the fourteen questions raised within your e-mail.

IPSA holds information relating to approximately 2,900 MPs’ staff members. The information we hold is sorted in terms of post-holders and staff employed by individual MPs, not by the number of FTEs or job titles. In order to provide you with the information you are seeking, we would need to convert all post-holder information on our system to statistics for FTEs and job titles before we are able to provide the analysis you require. Given the turnover of MPs’ staff, any former calculations of FTE would need to be repeated for the current staff set.

We estimate that to extract the information and present it in the form you have requested would cost more than the appropriate limit in staff time (at a rate of £25 per hour). The appropriate limit is set at £450 (Part 1 of Schedule 1 of the FOIA). This represents the estimated cost of determining whether IPSA holds the information, and of locating, retrieving and extracting it. Consequently, IPSA is not obliged by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to respond to your request (see section 12(1)).

We have released information relating to MPs’ staffing as part of recent Freedom of Information disclosures. The FOI disclosure log and attachments can be found on the IPSA website. You may find some of the information contained within these files relevant to your request.

The Policy Team at IPSA has also completed some analysis of MPs’ staffing information, including information on FTEs, as part of IPSA’s Annual Review of the MPs’ Scheme of Expenses and Costs. This can be found on IPSA’s website.

Ref:
FOI2011-104
Disclosure:
14 December 2011
Categories:
MPs' STAFFING
Exemptions Applied:
Cost limit