Supporting democracy – understanding our 2023/24 data

Each year we publish the final total spending of all MPs against their budgets in the previous financial year, as well as other information such as MPs' salaries, or staff information.

To view the latest data, visit MPs’ staffing and business costs.

For more information, visit Supporting democracy – funding of MP parliamentary duties 2023/24.

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. Transparency helps provide assurance that public money is being spent wisely.

This is why since IPSA’s creation we have published information about the financial support we provide to MPs in carrying out their constituency and parliamentary duties. This transparency must, however, be meaningful.

There are many myths and misconceptions about MP business costs that threaten to undermine confidence in democracy. As the regulatory body, it is important we explain and contextualise the funds we provide.

We know there is still a lack of understanding about what MPs need to do to fulfil their public duties, and how that is funded. For example:

• MPs don’t decide their own pay or the budget for their own business expenditure. That is the role of IPSA, an independent body.

• MPs are only reimbursed for fees they incur when performing parliamentary duties. It is not a “bonus” or a “top up” to their salaries.

• We don’t fund MPs’ personal utility bills. We do, however, fund the costs of heating their constituency office – where many of their staff work – or their work address in London.

• Most MP funding goes towards paying the staff who work to support local communities on constituency issues.

• Costs are generally only reimbursed if supported by evidence – for example, invoices – and are within the budgets we provide.

Business costs

These are requests made by MPs to cover the business costs they incur while carrying out their parliamentary and constituency duties. The payments are for goods or services supplied to MPs. All accepted costs must be compliant with our rules and accompanied by evidence. Business costs are not part of an MP’s pay.

For more information visit our Guide to MPs’ business costs.

Staffing

The vast majority of MPs’ expenditure – almost 80% in 2023-24 – is for employing staff to support constituents and other parliamentary duties.

The staffing budget per MP for this year was £236,170 (for an MP with a constituency outside London) and £252,870 (for an MP with a London constituency).

Running a constituency office is like running a small business – costs are incurred for renting, heating, and lighting an office, providing services, and managing staff.

It is often an unseen part of an MP’s role but requires good office management to ensure constituents receive the appropriate support they need.

Dealing with casework

MPs receive hundreds of messages from constituents every single day. They need office staff to help them respond, address concerns, and provide information or guidance.

The range of casework is wide and varied: it can include assisting with housing or social welfare issues, immigration matters, healthcare, education, or any other issues constituents seek help with.

Casework involves liaising with relevant government departments, local authorities, or other organisations to resolve problems and advocate for constituents.

Staffing expenditure

Almost all staffing expenditure pays for staff salaries. In 2023/24, 98% of staffing expenditure paid for:

• basic salary

• Employer’s National Insurance

• pensions

• overtime

• childcare vouchers

No personal costs

MPs are not reimbursed for personal costs.

We don’t offer payment for the cost of food and drink in an MP’s normal working day, although a modest subsistence amount of £25 per day is available if they are away from London or their constituency –for an overnight stay – for parliamentary purposes.

On average, each MP represents around 70,000 people in their constituencies and often works between two locations.

MPs representing constituencies outside London spend a lot of time far away from home. Work in Westminster often involves long, unsociable hours, and commuting long distances every day is not a workable option for many MPs.

MPs don’t receive funding for their daily commute to work at either their constituency office or the Houses of Parliament.

MPs with constituencies outside London can be reimbursed for the costs of travel to London to represent their constituents, and all MPs are repaid for costs incurred on other journeys for parliamentary purposes.

The cost of running or maintaining two homes isn’t covered by our Scheme. The cost of hotels, rented accommodation, or associated costs in either London or constituencies can be covered for non-London MPs, but they must fully fund their accommodation in the other location.

Compliance with IPSA rules

Since 2009 we have provided robust regulation and transparent rules to make sure the reimbursement of business costs is legitimate.

Our data tells us that reimbursement requests made by MPs are highly compliant with our rules, and that the small proportion of non-compliance is often the result of mistakes or misunderstandings.

How to review the data

To understand how your MP has spent the money available to them, you need to take into account the circumstances of their office and the constituency they represent. This makes it difficult to compare one MP against another.

If your MP has a constituency office, you should consider how expensive it is to rent an office in your area and examine how the Office Costs budget has been used to support their constituents.

For the Travel budget, consider how far your constituency is from Westminster, and how many journeys could be made locally by your MP to meet constituents or further afield to support their parliamentary work.

With the Accommodation budget, think about the number of nights your MP spent away from home in a hotel or rented accommodation while needing to work from two locations.

Our role

IPSA is dedicated to independently setting, administering, and regulating MPs’ business costs, and supporting the good functioning of MPs’ offices to help them provide services to your constituency.

Given the unique circumstances of their roles and the safeguards we have in place, the best way to assess the value of your MP is to focus on the impact they have within your constituency and the service they provide to the people they represent.