MPs’ business costs

Sir Bernard Jenkin

IPSA paid £2,617,652 against 1,280 published rows for Sir Bernard Jenkin between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Harwich and North Essex 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, 2019-20

72 claims, £170,900 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	£152,902	89.5%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	61	£7,407	4.3%
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.	4	£7,640	4.5%
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.	6	£2,951	1.7%

Every year in the register

Sir Bernard Jenkin’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	£89,018	£4,861	£9,448	£2,487	£105,814
2011-12	79	£105,438	£10,022	£9,811	£2,746	£128,017
2012-13	58	£111,745	£7,942	£1,200	£1,269	£122,156
2013-14	71	£127,713	£5,050	—	£1,511	£134,274
2014-15	73	£126,547	£7,182	—	£1,362	£135,091
2015-16	58	£131,401	£8,776	—	£1,339	£141,516
2016-17	102	£134,855	£12,321	—	£1,101	£148,277
2017-18	112	£138,661	£9,797	—	£2,425	£150,883
2018-19	175	£146,635	£13,117	—	£3,837	£163,588
2019-20	72	£152,902	£7,407	£7,640	£2,951	£170,900
2020-21	101	£172,039	£15,533	£22,920	£1,156	£211,648
2021-22	79	£187,120	£14,799	£22,518	£1,300	£225,737
2022-23	93	£208,942	£14,500	£24,000	£2,239	£249,681
2023-24	64	£226,318	£9,049	£25,783	£4,071	£265,222
2024-25	49	£215,309	£14,168	£29,145	£3,425	£262,047
2025-26	14	—	£2,802	—	—	£2,802

A year in which Sir Bernard Jenkin 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, 2019-20

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£152,902

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Pooled staffing services	1	£3,133
Equipment - purchase	2	£1,287
Newspapers, journals, magazines	39	£928
Training - staff	3	£600
Software & applications	1	£500
Stationery & printing	9	£496

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	4	£7,640

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Mileage - car	3	£2,132
Rail	3	£818

Largest claims, 2019-20

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 2020	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2019-20 year	£152,902	£152,902
15 May 2019	Office Costs	Pooled staffing services	Policy Research Unit (Conservative)	£3,133	£3,133
18 March 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,910	£1,910
19 February 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,910	£1,910
31 January 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,910	£1,910
31 January 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,910	£1,910
31 March 2020	MP Travel	Mileage - car	Aggregated figure for travel during 2019-20	£1,317	£1,317
11 February 2020	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£1,217	£1,217
31 March 2020	MP Travel	Mileage - car	Aggregated figure for travel during 2019-20	£684	£684
31 March 2020	Staff Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2019-20	£634	£634
18 June 2019	Office Costs	Software & applications	Caseworker.MP casework software annual renewal	£500	£500
21 October 2019	Office Costs	Training - staff	Training course for mental health first aider accreditation for [***]	£300	£300
21 October 2019	Office Costs	Training - staff	2 day mental health first aid course for [*] [*]	£300	£300
11 February 2020	Office Costs	Newspapers, journals, magazines	Annual subscription to The Economist	£175	£175
18 June 2019	Office Costs	Stationery & printing	Langfords - Business Cards	£173	£173

Claims refused and money repaid, 2019-20

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £300 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 Sir Bernard Jenkin 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 Bernard Jenkin’s register of interests and votes · Sources