Civometry

MPs’ business costs

Andy McDonald

IPSA paid £2,512,365 against 1,563 published rows for Andy McDonald between 2012-13 and 2025-26 as the member for Middlesbrough BC, then Middlesbrough and Thornaby East 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, 2013-14

216 claims, £172,895 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.

CategoryWhat it coversClaimsPaidShare
StaffingThe 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.4£128,11374.1%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.189£17,59810.2%
AccommodationThe 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.17£19,14411.1%
TravelJourneys 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£7,2254.2%
Starting up and winding upThe 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.5£8150.5%

Every year in the register

Andy McDonald’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2012-13 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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsAccommodationTravelStarting up and winding upTotal
2012-13173£23,631£4,455£8,617£4,064£543£41,311
2013-14216£128,113£17,598£19,144£7,225£815£172,895
2014-1581£126,953£14,039£22,734£7,314—£171,039
2015-1686£139,351£19,024£20,794£6,888—£186,057
2016-17324£134,292£22,686£20,800£8,207—£185,985
2017-1872£143,368£15,139£22,969£4,086—£185,561
2018-1989£145,030£20,089£21,681£5,257—£192,057
2019-20133£144,480£22,096£22,340£4,417—£193,334
2020-2177£152,270£22,921£18,932£2,314—£196,437
2021-2255£159,413£25,785£21,890£5,154—£212,243
2022-2379£171,013£17,111£21,533£5,500—£215,157
2023-2457£203,845£19,026£23,150£4,659—£250,680
2024-2580£238,313£26,617£24,264£7,737—£296,930
2025-2641—£9,781£2,896——£12,677

A year in which Andy McDonald 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, 2013-14

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£127,113
Pooled Services1£800
Public Tr RAIL Volunteer - SG2£199

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental8£4,628
Const Office Rent13£4,217
Business Rates8£3,068
Stationery Purchase131£2,553
Furniture Purchase3£1,442
Const Office Electricity5£1,098

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Accommodation Rent13£16,763
Ground Rent2£2,205
Television Licence1£146
Electricity1£30

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Aggregated Travel Costs1£7,225

Starting up and winding up

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Training for MP Staff StartUp1£409
Comp HW Purch StartUp1£252
Office Alterations StartUp2£95
Printer Purchase StartUp1£59

Largest claims, 2013-14

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.

DateCategoryCost typeDescriptionClaimedPaid
31 March 2014StaffingPayrollTotal payroll costs for the 2013-14 year£127,113£127,113
31 March 2014TravelAggregated Travel CostsAggregated figure for travel during 2013-14£7,225£7,225
25 February 2014AccommodationAccommodation Rent—£1,733£1,733
4 February 2014AccommodationGround RentFebruary Rent£1,733£1,733
13 January 2014AccommodationAccommodation Rent—£1,733£1,733
11 December 2013AccommodationAccommodation Rent—£1,733£1,733
8 November 2013AccommodationAccommodation Rent—£1,733£1,733
10 October 2013AccommodationAccommodation Rent—£1,733£1,733
10 September 2013AccommodationAccommodation Rent—£1,733£1,733
11 August 2013AccommodationAccommodation Rent—£1,733£1,733
11 July 2013AccommodationAccommodation Rent—£1,733£1,733
10 June 2013AccommodationAccommodation Rent—£1,733£1,733
10 May 2013AccommodationAccommodation Rent—£1,733£1,733
19 April 2013AccommodationAccommodation RentRent Bill- 18 April- 17 May£1,733£1,733
5 July 2013Office CostsConst Office Tel. Usage/RentalOffice Telephone Bill£1,187£1,187

Claims refused and money repaid, 2013-14

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £721 repaid. A refusal is not a finding of wrongdoing — most are claims outside the scheme’s rules, or submitted without the evidence IPSA requires — and it is shown because leaving it out would show only the money that went out.

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 McDonald 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 McDonald’s register of interests and votes · Sources