MPs’ business costs

Dame Angela Eagle

IPSA paid £2,717,547 against 1,297 published rows for Dame Angela Eagle between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Wallasey 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, 2018-19

89 claims, £168,363 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.	5	£137,926	81.9%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	54	£19,720	11.7%
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.	29	£5,034	3.0%
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	£5,684	3.4%

Every year in the register

Dame Angela Eagle’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	Total
2010-11	80	£86,185	£14,486	£3,714	£5,174	£109,559
2011-12	109	£114,806	£16,378	£4,159	£5,883	£141,227
2012-13	105	£130,227	£16,066	£5,320	£5,249	£156,862
2013-14	92	£138,305	£19,698	£3,639	£5,164	£166,806
2014-15	102	£137,482	£22,087	£5,031	£7,067	£171,667
2015-16	85	£135,612	£23,323	£4,477	£5,582	£168,994
2016-17	80	£135,711	£21,030	£5,224	£7,285	£169,250
2017-18	73	£132,748	£16,835	£4,961	£4,903	£159,447
2018-19	89	£137,926	£19,720	£5,034	£5,684	£168,363
2019-20	109	£140,355	£22,877	£5,333	£6,039	£174,605
2020-21	77	£161,489	£21,402	£5,149	£1,706	£189,746
2021-22	42	£152,573	£24,211	£5,480	£3,939	£186,203
2022-23	77	£195,412	£21,628	£5,176	£4,681	£226,896
2023-24	78	£221,369	£26,439	£6,330	£3,735	£257,873
2024-25	61	£223,883	£23,319	£6,741	£3,923	£257,867
2025-26	38	—	£5,315	£6,870	—	£12,185

A year in which Dame Angela Eagle 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, 2018-19

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£129,511
Pooled Services: Direct	1	£4,800
Professional Services (Staff.)	1	£3,085
Staff Training Costs	2	£530

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	12	£12,286
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	10	£2,241
Stationery Purchase	16	£1,653
IT/Other Equipment Hire	1	£1,170
Computer SW Purchase	1	£500
Other	3	£439

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Service Charges	2	£2,399
Council Tax	10	£1,156
Telephone Usage/Rental	11	£615
Electricity	5	£525
Water	1	£339

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£5,684

Largest claims, 2018-19

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 2019	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2018-19 year	£129,511	£129,511
31 March 2019	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2018-19	£5,684	£5,684
1 April 2018	Staffing	Pooled Services: Direct	PRS	£4,800	£4,800
1 February 2019	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Staffing Jan 2019	£3,085	£3,085
28 November 2018	Accommodation	Service Charges	Accommodation Nov 2018	£1,287	£1,287
1 November 2018	Office Costs	IT/Other Equipment Hire	Payment Card Dec 2018	£1,170	£1,170
1 May 2018	Accommodation	Service Charges	Accomodation April 2018	£1,113	£1,113
26 February 2019	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,025	£1,025
29 January 2019	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,025	£1,025
19 December 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,025	£1,025
22 November 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,025	£1,025
24 October 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,025	£1,025
25 September 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,025	£1,025
25 August 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,025	£1,025
25 July 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,025	£1,025

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 Dame Angela Eagle 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 · Dame Angela Eagle’s register of interests and votes · Sources