Independent body should determine MPs' pay

Sir John Baker's recommendations include:

• The current SSRB should become the independent body which determines MPs' pay, conduct reviews every four years or so. Consideration should be given to securing its independence by Government undertaking or statute.
• Pay should be uprated annually by the three month average Public Sector Average Earnings Index (PSAEI) on 1 April, using the published PSAEI figure for January of that year.
• With effect from 1 April 2008 MPs' salary should be £64,634 (an increase of 3.5% plus £650 - this latter sum being that identified in the SSRB report to start bringing the pay into line with the earnings of the public sector comparators). The salary should increase again by the PSAEI annual percentage plus £650 on 1 April 2009 and again on 1 April 2010, thereafter by the PSAEI annual percentage.
• The independent body should consider MPs' pension arrangements bearing in mind the unusual career pattern of MPs and the evolution of pensions in the public sector and the wider economy.
• The London supplement for London MPs should be increased to £3,623 with effect from 1 April 2008. Sir John is concerned that the new mechanism achieves the support and trust of MPs, Government and the public.

Sir John's recommendations are a balanced package, which remove the need for MPs to vote on their own pay. He offers alternative pay progression and periodic realignment options should MPs feel the suggested increases are presentationally and politically difficult to accept in the current economic climate.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has since declared that Government ministers would not be accepting any pay rise in 2008/09 "given the importance of public sector pay restraint at a time of economic uncertainty".

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