MPs have trouble getting security funding

A number of lawmakers told the BBC they had struggled to obtain funding to improve their security.

IPSA – the body responsible for paying parliamentarians’ expenses – said it will bear the cost of extra measures resulting from the Interior Ministry’s review of the security of parliamentarians following the killing of Sir David Amess.

He added that he already funds the improvements recommended by the police.

Affected parliamentarians do not want to be identified if there are gaps in their security.

A lawmaker told the BBC that he had received written advice from a local police superintendent that he should put shatterproof glass in his election office windows, but IPSA had not provided the funds.

Another said he withdrew a travel budget without consultation when he left his role on his party’s bench.

He said the budget was in effect due to the abuse and threats received when traveling by public transport.

A third MP told colleagues that funding for safety improvements had not been provided as he had not received a high enough level of abusive correspondence to justify it.

The IPSA spending program automatically funds the security measures recommended by the Council of National Police Chiefs.

In addition to this, further measures are decided “on a case-by-case basis” for parliamentarians who have “additional security requirements”.

An IPSA spokesperson said she could not comment on individual cases, but that more than £ 3 million was spent on security measures last year and the budget remains unlimited.