MPs’ business costs

Sir Alec Shelbrooke

IPSA paid £2,769,040 against 1,375 published rows for Sir Alec Shelbrooke between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Elmet and Rothwell CC, then Wetherby and Easingwold CC. 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, 2011-12

97 claims, £135,710 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	£99,010	73.0%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	69	£11,200	8.3%
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.	25	£17,195	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	£8,305	6.1%

Every year in the register

Sir Alec Shelbrooke’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2010-11 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	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	90	£72,874	£11,055	£16,255	£6,183	—	£106,368
2011-12	97	£99,010	£11,200	£17,195	£8,305	—	£135,710
2012-13	146	£121,971	£15,847	£20,287	£9,522	£450	£168,077
2013-14	118	£128,826	£13,601	£20,124	£12,273	—	£174,825
2014-15	91	£125,361	£8,974	£20,551	£10,636	—	£165,523
2015-16	92	£136,752	£14,410	£18,823	£7,154	—	£177,139
2016-17	67	£122,435	£12,922	£20,086	£6,082	—	£161,526
2017-18	59	£133,574	£12,931	£21,169	£6,213	—	£173,886
2018-19	58	£133,201	£12,369	£19,490	£8,077	—	£173,136
2019-20	121	£136,234	£20,992	£18,428	£7,054	—	£182,708
2020-21	55	£152,688	£17,808	£20,056	£4,186	—	£194,738
2021-22	77	£153,830	£21,624	£20,792	£5,961	—	£202,206
2022-23	95	£166,475	£23,392	£21,296	£5,809	—	£216,973
2023-24	82	£185,401	£23,573	£23,342	£5,703	—	£238,020
2024-25	84	£215,044	£27,645	£25,131	£6,838	—	£274,658
2025-26	43	£14,454	£7,427	£1,667	—	—	£23,548

A year in which Sir Alec Shelbrooke 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, 2011-12

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£97,060
Pooled Staffing Services	1	£1,950

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Professional Services	1	£3,960
Const Office Rent	9	£2,255
Telephone/Mobile Hire	19	£954
Business Rates	2	£934
Stationery Purchase	10	£739
Legal Expenses Insurance	1	£636

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	12	£15,600
Council Tax	1	£1,235
Electricity	4	£263
Television Licence	8	£97

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£8,305

Largest claims, 2011-12

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 2012	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2011-12 year	£97,060	£97,060
31 March 2012	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2011-12	£8,305	£8,305
13 June 2011	Office Costs	Professional Services	Parliamentary Resources Unit	£3,960	£3,960
30 June 2011	Staffing	Pooled Staffing Services	ERG Fees	£1,950	£1,950
20 March 2012	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,300	£1,300
24 February 2012	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,300	£1,300
24 January 2012	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,300	£1,300
24 December 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,300	£1,300
24 November 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,300	£1,300
24 October 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,300	£1,300
24 September 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,300	£1,300
24 August 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,300	£1,300
20 July 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,300	£1,300
28 June 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,300	£1,300
27 May 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,300	£1,300

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 Sir Alec Shelbrooke 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 · Sir Alec Shelbrooke’s register of interests and votes · Sources