Appointment of the IPSA Board

Members of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) are appointed in accordance with the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009. It provides for IPSA to have a chair and four other members. All are appointed by Her Majesty on an address of the House of Commons. They are selected by the Speaker of the House of Commons, with the agreement of the Speaker’s Committee on the IPSA, following a fair and open competition.

On 16 December 2020, the House of Commons approved the appointment of two members to the Board of IPSA, from 1 January 2021, as the terms of appointment of two current members came to an end on 31 December 2020. Helen Jones was appointed for five years and Sir Robert Owen was reappointed for three years.

The process followed in the recruitment of Helen Jones and Sir Robert Owen (re-appointment) was outlined in a report from the Speaker’s Committee on IPSA.

The terms and qualifications of the current members of the IPSA Board are:

• Richard Lloyd, Interim Chair. He was appointed to the Board from 1 December 2018, for five years. He became interim Chair, on 11 October 2019, following the resignation of Ruth Evans. He will remain interim Chair until a new Chair is recruited.
• William Lifford, auditor member, from 11 January 2018 for five years.
• Sir Robert Owen, former holder of a high judicial office, 1 January 2016-31 December 2023.
• Helen Jones, former Member of Parliament, from 1 January 2020-31 December 2025.