IPSA publishes latest data on MPs' business costs

Date published: 16 May 2024

Today, IPSA published details of spending by MPs against their parliamentary budgets, processed by IPSA in the period from 1 December 2023 to 31 January 2024.

This funding is provided to support their parliamentary work, enables them to employ staff and provide constituency services.

Indeed, MPs use most of the funding from IPSA to pay their staff to support their constituents – in 2022/23 almost 80% of their spending went towards employing staff.

They also use the funding IPSA provides to pay the rent on a constituency office and for travel to and from Westminster to represent their constituents in Parliament.

They cannot claim for food or drink as part of their normal working day, or for any personal costs.

Lee Bridges, Director of Policy and Engagement at IPSA, said:

“Transparency is an essential part of supporting trust in democracy. The public has a right to know their money is being spent on the right things, in the right way. We publish MPs’ expenditure every two months to provide this transparency.

“MPs play a vital role in our democracy and we believe that serving as an MP should not be reserved to those wealthy enough to fund it themselves.”

Ends

For more information contact the IPSA press office on 07792 242736 or email communications@theipsa.org.uk.

Notes to editors

  1. You can find the data IPSA has published today by downloading the Individual business costs data 2023-2024 spreadsheet on this page of our website under the Individual business costs heading. You can also view claims relating to an individual MP by searching their name or constituency on our website.

  2. Today's data cannot point to a trend or a pattern, as costs for MPs vary month by month. IPSA's annual publication covering business costs submitted by MPs in 2022-2023, shows that almost 80% of MPs’ business costs go toward paying their staff.

  3. MPs’ constituencies have a range of different characteristics, for example, size, population, urban or rural landscape, and distance from Westminster, which makes comparisons between the data for each MP difficult.

  4. Following advice from security specialists, IPSA is no longer publishing data relating to travel costs on a bi-monthly basis. Instead, this will be published as an aggregated cost for each MP as part of its annual publication.

  5. IPSA was created in 2009 by the Parliamentary Standards Act. The Act was amended in 2010 by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act. Together they gave IPSA three main responsibilities:

    • to regulate MPs’ business costs

    • to determine MPs’ pay and pension arrangements

    • to provide financial support to MPs in carrying out their parliamentary functions

  6. IPSA is independent of Parliament and the Government. This allows it to make decisions about the rules on business costs and on MPs’ pay ourselves, without interference. You can find out more about IPSA's role and responsibilities on our website.

  7. The Scheme of MPs’ Staffing and Business Costs (‘the Scheme’) governs what MPs can and cannot claim. We review our rules regularly and consult the public when we do so.

  8. Repayments are made to IPSA by MPs and third parties for a variety of reasons. These include:

    • refunding items for which an MP no longer wishes to claim

    • refunding payment card transactions for which an MP does not wish to claim, and

    • where an MP has received a rebate or refund from a third party, for example on their business rates or utility bills