MPs’ business costs

Bill Esterson

IPSA paid £3,124,794 against 2,153 published rows for Bill Esterson between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Sefton Central 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, 2020-21

125 claims, £205,281 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.	4	£170,122	82.9%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	99	£26,246	12.8%
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.	17	£5,725	2.8%
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.	5	£3,187	1.6%

Every year in the register

Bill Esterson’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	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	99	£92,966	£18,452	£12,818	£8,804	—	£133,039
2011-12	156	£123,209	£27,300	£16,117	£13,749	—	£180,375
2012-13	123	£144,316	£19,320	£20,803	£8,082	—	£192,520
2013-14	137	£133,797	£19,095	£17,214	£8,387	—	£178,494
2014-15	120	£138,492	£20,358	£20,090	£9,929	£2,310	£191,178
2015-16	101	£143,779	£16,045	£18,739	£12,676	—	£191,239
2016-17	100	£139,864	£14,084	£22,418	£13,093	—	£189,459
2017-18	100	£146,577	£16,034	£20,889	£11,748	—	£195,248
2018-19	135	£140,579	£16,170	£22,568	£10,064	—	£189,381
2019-20	147	£156,017	£24,547	£15,159	£9,577	—	£205,299
2020-21	125	£170,122	£26,246	£5,725	£3,187	—	£205,281
2021-22	142	£177,749	£19,403	£8,682	£8,926	—	£214,761
2022-23	247	£214,708	£24,935	£13,702	£14,502	—	£267,848
2023-24	206	£222,107	£22,198	£20,127	£14,196	—	£278,628
2024-25	125	£221,985	£26,011	£22,273	£12,189	—	£282,460
2025-26	90	—	£12,206	£17,377	—	—	£29,584

A year in which Bill Esterson 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	£167,392
Training - staff	3	£2,730

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	11	£8,800
Stationery & printing	28	£4,131
Training - staff	3	£3,457
Postage & couriers	3	£2,212
Equipment - purchase	7	£1,774
Working From Home Allowance	1	£1,281

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Hotel - London	17	£5,725

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rail	1	£2,059
Parking	1	£514
Taxi	1	£299
Mileage - car	1	£225
Congestion charge & toll	1	£90

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	£167,392	£167,392
19 October 2020	Office Costs	Training - staff	Staff training	£2,400	£2,400
31 March 2021	MP Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2020-21	£2,059	£2,059
31 March 2021	Office Costs	Working From Home Allowance	Aggregated figure for 2020-21	£1,281	£1,281
9 March 2021	Staffing	Training - staff	Office costs	£1,200	£1,200
11 February 2021	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£1,087	£1,087
30 September 2020	Staffing	Training - staff	Office costs	£1,026	£1,026
2 March 2021	Office Costs	Rent	—	£800	£800
2 February 2021	Office Costs	Rent	—	£800	£800
6 January 2021	Office Costs	Rent	—	£800	£800
1 December 2020	Office Costs	Rent	—	£800	£800
1 November 2020	Office Costs	Rent	—	£800	£800
4 October 2020	Office Costs	Rent	—	£800	£800
1 September 2020	Office Costs	Rent	—	£800	£800
1 August 2020	Office Costs	Rent	—	£800	£800

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 Bill Esterson 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 · Bill Esterson’s register of interests and votes · Sources