MPs’ business costs

Barry Gardiner

IPSA paid £2,930,322 against 1,192 published rows for Barry Gardiner between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Brent North BC, then Brent West 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, 2020-21

40 claims, £218,013 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	£200,492	92.0%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	38	£17,044	7.8%
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.	1	£477	0.2%

Every year in the register

Barry Gardiner’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	Travel	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	63	£118,174	£9,786	£2,762	—	£130,722
2011-12	88	£151,013	£23,271	£2,732	—	£177,016
2012-13	108	£150,102	£21,206	£2,897	—	£174,204
2013-14	135	£151,435	£23,253	£2,515	—	£177,202
2014-15	54	£151,659	£17,865	£1,159	—	£170,683
2015-16	52	£144,920	£24,372	£1,020	—	£170,312
2016-17	86	£140,936	£23,101	£1,610	£492	£166,138
2017-18	72	£151,885	£21,958	£935	—	£174,779
2018-19	44	£162,850	£15,455	—	—	£178,305
2019-20	66	£158,409	£17,307	—	—	£175,715
2020-21	40	£200,492	£17,044	£477	—	£218,013
2021-22	111	£211,511	£14,754	£432	£24,914	£251,611
2022-23	88	£218,503	£15,078	£143	—	£233,724
2023-24	83	£224,662	£16,202	—	—	£240,863
2024-25	69	£261,099	£8,637	—	—	£269,737
2025-26	33	—	£21,298	—	—	£21,298

A year in which Barry Gardiner 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, 2020-21

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£200,492

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Equipment - purchase	10	£8,349
Pooled staffing services	1	£3,600
Working From Home Allowance	1	£1,471
Stationery & printing	18	£925
Software & applications	1	£600
Rent	1	£576

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Congestion charge & toll	1	£477

Largest claims, 2020-21

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 2021	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2020-21 year	£200,492	£200,492
27 May 2020	Office Costs	Pooled staffing services	Parliamentary Research Service (Labour)	£3,600	£3,600
16 August 2020	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£1,748	£1,748
11 November 2020	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£1,498	£1,498
28 January 2021	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Other office equipment	£1,487	£1,487
31 March 2021	Office Costs	Working From Home Allowance	Aggregated figure for 2020-21	£1,471	£1,471
9 December 2020	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£1,460	£1,460
25 February 2021	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£1,212	£1,212
16 November 2020	Office Costs	Software & applications	ELECTED TECHNOLOGIES	£600	£600
1 April 2020	Office Costs	Rent	[200002031-518]	£576	£576
20 July 2020	Office Costs	Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs	SENDEAN CAMERAS	£504	£504
31 March 2021	MP Travel	Congestion charge & toll	Aggregated figure for travel during 2020-21	£477	£477
19 February 2021	Office Costs	Training - staff	WESTMINSTERSKILLCENTRE	£384	£384
6 August 2020	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£349	£349
24 February 2021	Office Costs	Waste disposal, confidential waste & rubbish collection	Banner February 2021	£341	£341

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 Barry Gardiner 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 · Barry Gardiner’s register of interests and votes · Sources