MPs’ business costs

Andy Burnham

IPSA paid £1,289,952 against 2,082 published rows for Andy Burnham between 2010-11 and 2017-18 as the member for Leigh 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, 2017-18

36 claims, £84,964 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.	1	£10,713	12.6%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	9	£3,465	4.1%
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.	2	£2,015	2.4%
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	£519	0.6%
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.	18	£67,079	79.0%
Miscellaneous	Claims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.	5	£1,173	1.4%

Every year in the register

Andy Burnham’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2010-11 and the last is 2017-18. 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	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	148	£101,345	£11,324	£10,770	£5,731	—	—	£129,170
2011-12	324	£112,906	£14,443	£14,929	£6,317	—	—	£148,595
2012-13	444	£134,288	£20,982	£17,564	£6,163	—	—	£178,997
2013-14	509	£134,129	£22,371	£19,283	£5,263	—	—	£181,046
2014-15	336	£138,892	£22,755	£18,425	£5,583	—	—	£185,655
2015-16	156	£144,229	£26,813	£18,966	£5,106	—	—	£195,114
2016-17	129	£138,397	£21,524	£19,999	£6,491	—	—	£186,411
2017-18	36	£10,713	£3,465	£2,015	£519	£67,079	£1,173	£84,964

A year in which Andy Burnham 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, 2017-18

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£10,713

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	4	£3,046
Stationery Purchase	1	£138
Professional Services	1	£125
Postage Purchase	1	£119
Computer HW Purchase	1	£33
Const Office Cleaning	1	£4

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	2	£2,015

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£519

Starting up and winding up

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Staff Costs - Routine	1	£36,032
Payroll	1	£25,130
Const Off Tel.Usg/Rnt Wind.Up	2	£2,047
Home Removal Costs	1	£1,541
Office Removals	1	£792
Office Rent	2	£552

Miscellaneous

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accom Rent (Wind. Up)	1	£698
Council Tax (Wind. Up)	1	£237
Accom Electricity (Wind. Up)	2	£130
Accom Water (Wind. Up)	1	£108

Largest claims, 2017-18

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 May 2017	Winding Up	Staff Costs - Routine	Redundancy costs	£36,032	£36,032
31 March 2018	Winding Up	Payroll	Total Winding Up budget payroll costs for the 2017-18 year	£25,130	£25,130
31 March 2018	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2017-18 year	£10,713	£10,713
2 May 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	Winding up office costs	£2,788	£2,788
12 May 2017	Winding Up	Const Off Tel.Usg/Rnt Wind.Up	Winding Up Costs	£1,982	£1,982
24 May 2017	Winding Up	Home Removal Costs	Winding Up Costs	£1,541	£1,541
15 June 2017	Winding Up	Office Rent	Winding up costs	£1,295	£1,295
1 April 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,197	£1,197
19 April 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£819	£819
7 June 2017	Winding Up	Office Removals	Winding Up Costs	£792	£792
19 April 2017	Miscellaneous Expenses	Accom Rent (Wind. Up)	[***] accom	£698	£698
31 March 2018	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2017-18	£519	£519
7 June 2017	Miscellaneous Expenses	Council Tax (Wind. Up)	Winding Up Costs	£237	£237
9 May 2017	Winding Up	Office Electricity	Winding Up Costs	£208	£208
22 May 2017	Winding Up	Office Postage/Stationery/Tel	Postal Redirection	£185	£185

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 Andy Burnham 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 · Andy Burnham’s register of interests and votes · Sources