MPs’ business costs

Alan Mak

IPSA paid £1,976,874 against 928 published rows for Alan Mak between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Havant BC. These are the costs of running an office and employing staff under IPSA’s rules. They are not salary, and the largest part of them is wages IPSA pays to the member’s employees rather than money the member receives.

By category, 2016-17

94 claims, £161,948 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.

Category	What it covers	Claims	Paid	Share
Staffing	The salaries and employment costs of the people an MP employs to run their office and casework. IPSA pays these directly; they are not money an MP receives.	2	£110,510	68.2%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	66	£23,450	14.5%
Accommodation	The cost of somewhere to stay for an MP whose constituency is far enough from Westminster that IPSA's rules allow it. An MP representing a London seat is not eligible on the same terms.	12	£20,599	12.7%
Travel	Journeys between the constituency and Westminster and within the constituency. Until 2018-19 IPSA published one travel category; from 2019-20 it publishes travel by the MP, by staff and by a dependant separately.	1	£1,974	1.2%
Starting up and winding up	The one-off costs of opening an office on election and of closing one on leaving. These fall in the years around a general election and are absent from the rest.	13	£5,415	3.3%

Every year in the register

Alan Mak’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2015-16 and the last is 2025-26. Figures are not adjusted for inflation, so a rise between two distant years is partly a rise in prices. Select a year to read it on its own.

Year	Claims	Staffing	Office costs	Accommodation	Travel	Starting up and winding up	Total
2015-16	63	£74,514	£16,140	£18,119	£3,322	—	£112,095
2016-17	94	£110,510	£23,450	£20,599	£1,974	£5,415	£161,948
2017-18	75	£141,840	£24,014	£22,452	£1,949	—	£190,255
2018-19	44	£134,746	£24,880	£22,620	£4,084	—	£186,329
2019-20	98	£145,307	£25,938	£16,280	£4,691	—	£192,216
2020-21	82	£150,021	£29,903	£13,840	£1,610	—	£195,374
2021-22	68	£145,635	£26,549	£14,428	£3,090	—	£189,702
2022-23	112	£141,131	£28,394	£16,532	£6,263	—	£192,321
2023-24	120	£183,149	£30,543	£13,681	£6,974	—	£234,346
2024-25	103	£235,219	£33,004	£16,126	£7,929	—	£292,278
2025-26	69	—	£25,594	£4,415	—	—	£30,009

A year in which Alan Mak joined or left the House part-way through is a part year, and is not comparable with a full one.

What each category is made of, 2016-17

The cost types IPSA records inside each heading, largest first by what it paid.

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£107,839
Pooled Services: Direct	1	£2,671

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Advertising	20	£12,007
Const Office Rent	12	£5,000
Stationery Purchase	15	£2,370
Computer HW Purchase	2	£1,754
Computer SW Purchase	2	£979
Venue Hire Surgery/Meeting	7	£687

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	12	£20,599

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£1,974

Starting up and winding up

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Other Equipment Purch StartUp	2	£2,672
Office Consumables StartUp	5	£1,425
Comp HW Purch StartUp	3	£998
Printer Purchase StartUp	2	£260
Comp SW Purch StartUp	1	£60

Largest claims, 2016-17

The 15 rows IPSA paid most against, with IPSA’s own description of each. Read the description before the amount: IPSA publishes most of a member’s staffing as one row for the whole year — “Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the ⟨year⟩ year” — so the largest row here is usually a year of wages for the member’s employees and not something bought.

Date	Category	Cost type	Description	Claimed	Paid
31 March 2017	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2016-17 year	£107,839	£107,839
8 March 2017	Office Costs	Advertising	Job Fair Adverts	£3,525	£3,525
21 April 2016	Staffing	Pooled Services: Direct	PRU	£2,671	£2,671
4 April 2016	Start Up	Other Equipment Purch StartUp	MP Adverts - Hayling Islander	£2,592	£2,592
31 March 2017	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2016-17	£1,974	£1,974
24 February 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,717	£1,717
25 January 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,717	£1,717
20 December 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,717	£1,717
25 November 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,717	£1,717
26 October 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,717	£1,717
27 September 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,717	£1,717
24 August 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,717	£1,717
29 July 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,717	£1,717
29 June 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,717	£1,717
24 May 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,717	£1,717

What this page does not show

Whether any of it was justified. IPSA accepted these claims under its own rules and the register records what was paid, not whether it should have been. A large total is not a finding about the member.

Nor how Alan Mak compares with another member. After staffing the largest headings are accommodation and travel, and both are decided mostly by where a constituency is: a member several hundred miles from Westminster is eligible for costs a member with a London seat is not. Two members’ totals are two sets of rules as much as two sets of choices, and the length of service differs too.

It is also not pay. IPSA sets and publishes MPs’ salaries separately and they are not in this register; the staffing figure here is the salaries of the member’s employees.

All MPs’ business costs · Alan Mak’s register of interests and votes · Sources