Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
The Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, or Speaker's Committee for IPSA, is a body created under the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 to scrutinise the UK's Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority.[1] The committee also plays a role in selecting the members of IPSA. The chair and members are selected on an Address to the Queen from the House of Commons, but the names are chosen by the Speaker with the agreement of the committee.[2]
Composition
The committee comprises eight MPs and three lay members. The MPs are: the Speaker of the House of Commons (who also serves as its chair), the Leader of the House of Commons, the chair of the Standards and Privileges Select Committee, and five others appointed by the House of Commons who are not Ministers of the Crown.[3] The Shadow Leader of the House has been appointed as one of the opposition members of the committee since its inception, but the act creating it does not specify she will be a member and does not assign a member to be nominated by the Leader of the Opposition as is done to provide that result with the House of Commons Commission. As of July 2015 the members of the Committee have no been appointed following the general election.
The three lay members, whose term spans the election, are Dame Janet Gaymer QC, Professor Monojit Chaterjee, and Mr Kenneth Batty.
It is expected the MP members will be appointed in October 2015.