MPs' utility bill claims

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As part of our annual publication, we routinely disclose the total amount that each MP claims for utility bills. IPSA publishes the amount MPs have claimed for accommodation utilities and for office utilities. This information is available on our website. You can either search records for individual MPs using the A-Z list on the Search MP by name webpage, or download a spreadsheet list all claims by all MPs at Annual budgets, costs and claims.

Searching by individual MP

• To view utility costs claimed for London accommodation

  • Select the MP, scroll down to ‘Business Cost’, click on ‘Accommodation’ and then select ‘Utilities’.

• To view utility costs claimed for offices

  • Select the MP, scroll down to ‘Business Cost’, click on ‘Office Costs’, then select the drop-down option ‘Utilities’.

Please note that the total amount is for all utility costs; this has not been broken down into categories, such as, ‘electricity, gas and heating oil’.

Searching all claims

• Scroll down to the bottom of the page and select ‘Individual Business Costs’

• Download the spreadsheet for the year you would like to see

• To view utilities’ costs, filter the ‘Expense type’ column by selecting ‘Utilities’

• The Category column lists whether the claim related to office or accommodation costs

Guidance for MPs

MPs may claim utility costs for property registered with us. MPs who stay in rented accommodation can claim for running costs, including utility bills, subject to an overall budget cap. They cannot claim for bills for their private homes, or for things like mortgage payments.

The principle is that many MPs will need accommodation at a second location to carry out their parliamentary functions as an MP. MPs who need to travel to Westminster may claim for accommodation while they are in London, whether this is for renting a property or staying in an hotel (for which there is a cost cap). We believe this is fundamentally important for democracy: without sufficient funding, MPs would not be able to focus on the vital work of representing and supporting their constituents. There is also a risk that people without independent wealth or another source of income would be excluded from becoming MPs.

The rules governing what MPs may claim for are set out in The Scheme of MPs' Staffing and Business Costs (the Scheme). Chapter 4 of the Scheme details the costs which may be claimed under Accommodation Expenditure. Rules for claiming costs associated with constituency offices are set out in Chapter 6.

You may also find some of our recent blog posts useful for further information on what MPs can claim for, and why:

• Why do MPs need an accommodation budget?

• MPs' business costs aren't expenses

Section 21 – information accessible by other means

As the information you have requested is already available on our website, it is therefore exempt from disclosure under section 21 of the FOIA (information accessible to applicant by other means). This means that we do not need to provide you with copies of the information you have asked for.