Statement: IPSA Board Appointment

It is untrue that the Speaker has sought to remove members of the board of IPSA. The Speaker's role is to apply the law concerning the appointment of board members based on merit through fair and open competition. The legal advice to the Speaker was unequivocal on this statutory requirement. The recruitment was undertaken by an independent panel without interference from Parliament. A former MP was on the panel to provide working knowledge of the role of MPs, with the remaining Panel members not having held elected office. The Chair of IPSA, Professor Sir Ian Kennedy, was also a member of the recruitment panel. The current board members were perfectly entitled to apply for reappointment by going through the fair and open competition process, but they chose not to.