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, 2023-24

120 claims, £234,346 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	£183,149	78.2%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	83	£30,543	13.0%
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.	21	£13,681	5.8%
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.	14	£6,974	3.0%

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, 2023-24

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£179,961
Pooled staffing services	1	£3,188

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	6	£10,571
Postage & couriers	6	£6,726
Advertising and contact cards	17	£5,020
Stationery & printing	23	£4,014
Equipment - purchase	14	£1,575
Software & applications	2	£901

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	12	£11,796
Council tax	1	£1,456
Utilities	8	£430

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Mileage - car	4	£4,196
Rail	6	£2,452
Hotel - London	1	£190
Hotel - UK Not London	1	£80
Parking	1	£29
Other public transport	1	£27

Largest claims, 2023-24

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 2024	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2023-24 year	£179,961	£179,961
19 January 2024	Office Costs	Rent	Back dated rent [*] from 1/6/23 to 31/12/23 totalling £5,986.24 [*]	£5,986	£5,986
31 March 2024	MP Travel	Mileage - car	Aggregated figure for travel during 2023-24	£4,032	£4,032
18 April 2023	Staffing	Pooled staffing services	Policy Research Unit (Conservative)	£3,188	£3,188
13 September 2023	Office Costs	Postage & couriers	Distribution - MP Constituent Communication	£3,142	£3,142
31 March 2024	Staff Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2023-24	£1,890	£1,890
16 January 2024	Office Costs	Postage & couriers	Postage	£1,875	£1,875
30 June 2023	Accommodation	Council tax	Accommodation - Associated Costs	£1,456	£1,456
29 January 2024	Office Costs	Advertising and contact cards	Constituent Communication	£1,107	£1,107
2 April 2024	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,100	£1,100
5 March 2024	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,100	£1,100
1 February 2024	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,100	£1,100
5 January 2024	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,100	£1,100
5 December 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,100	£1,100
1 November 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,100	£1,100

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