The £300 million price tag

The Commons watchdog, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), is planning to spend £300 million on politicians' salaries, offices, and busines expenses over the next 12 months.

This is a significant increase from the original estimate of £268 million for last year, with Ipsa being granted an extra £13 million after costs overran.

The extra funding requirements are driven by higher take-up of budgets by MPs, but Ipsa has also made provisions more generous.

A 5% pay award for MPs

MPs have approved a 5% pay rise, which will push salaries to £98,599 in April.

This is more than the 3.2% wage forecast across the whole economy and the 2.2% inflation forecast for 2026-27, according to ONS and OBR data.

The pay award is also higher than the 3.3% headline pay award for nursing staff.

Treasury warnings ignored

The Treasury had warned that the move was unjustified, with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, James Murray, saaying that an 8% in-year increase in budgets would not have been permitted at a Government department.

Murray also noted that the Treasury had no power over Ipsa, but stressed that if a part of Whitehall asked for such an increase, he would demand to know the business case for this funding.

The Treasury's concerns were ignored by the powerful Commons committee, which approved the pay and expenses proposals .

Generous provisions for MPs

Under the plans, staffing budgets are going up 7%, including a 5% pay award.

The total staff budget has risen from £103 million in 2019 to a proposed £184 million in the coming year, including £7.7 million for resources to tackle backlogs in work.

Each MP office will be able to spend £4,000 on health, welllbeing, and development, while London MPs are getting a 6.3% uplift to cover accommodation.