This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Rejected petition Rescind the offer to MPs of £10,000 to support working from home
Parliament should reject the offer by the expenses authority, made to any MP wishing to claim it, of £10,000 to support their office. The money should either not be distributed, or should be used to support doctors, nurses, and key workers.
More details
Parliament's expenses authority has said that MPs can claim £10,000 for additional office costs incurred as a result of the coronavirus (BBC News, 9th April 2020).
MPs are some of the best-paid workers in the UK, earning a basic salary of £81,932, and with a £26,000 annual budget for office equipment. I accept that the £10,000 is to be claimed and not given, but it is completely unnecessary for people of those means. The offer is also open to abuse by anybody willing to play the system.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s about something that the UK Government or Parliament is not directly responsible for.
We can't accept your petition because the UK Government and Parliament aren't responsible for MPs' pay or expenses. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) is responsible for deciding on MPs' expenses and pay. IPSA is independent of both Parliament and Government.
You can find out more about IPSA here: https://www.theipsa.org.uk/about-us/
You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:
www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
The Government has also created an online service to help you out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support
You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips
You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/
You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Find out more and watch the Committee put questions suggested by petitioners to Government Ministers and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/news/145767/committee-question-deputy-chief-medical-officer-and-ministers-on-coronavirus-response/
Read letters asking further questions of Government Ministers: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.