MPs’ business costs

Bridget Phillipson

IPSA paid £3,061,415 against 3,344 published rows for Bridget Phillipson between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Houghton and Sunderland South BC, then Houghton and Sunderland South 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, 2017-18

198 claims, £175,710 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.	8	£142,615	81.2%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	165	£21,834	12.4%
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.	24	£3,992	2.3%
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	£7,269	4.1%

Every year in the register

Bridget Phillipson’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	156	£77,554	£16,434	£19,551	£8,196	£1,769	£123,505
2011-12	192	£112,831	£22,202	£22,281	£8,969	—	£166,284
2012-13	203	£124,309	£19,386	£22,700	£7,447	—	£173,842
2013-14	222	£126,617	£18,086	£22,440	£7,446	—	£174,588
2014-15	218	£127,551	£17,584	£22,991	£8,296	—	£176,423
2015-16	198	£133,161	£23,196	£23,643	£6,364	£2,360	£188,724
2016-17	229	£137,659	£22,064	£8,859	£9,256	£1,289	£179,128
2017-18	198	£142,615	£21,834	£3,992	£7,269	—	£175,710
2018-19	234	£143,468	£24,658	£4,231	£9,783	—	£182,140
2019-20	244	£159,005	£26,769	£3,794	£12,917	—	£202,484
2020-21	218	£193,835	£31,664	£4,418	£1,682	—	£231,599
2021-22	206	£183,119	£28,017	£4,311	£7,760	£1,950	£225,158
2022-23	262	£222,497	£28,620	£5,916	£10,776	—	£267,809
2023-24	238	£235,591	£29,351	£6,330	£10,630	—	£281,902
2024-25	210	£234,592	£27,898	£6,622	£8,534	—	£277,646
2025-26	116	£8,500	£20,004	£5,968	—	—	£34,472

A year in which Bridget Phillipson 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, 2017-18

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£138,091
Professional Services (Staff.)	6	£3,900
Staff Training Costs	1	£624

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	12	£10,500
Professional Services	12	£3,602
Stationery Purchase	30	£2,314
Postage Purchase	22	£1,162
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	24	£1,159
Contents Insurance	1	£677

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Council Tax	1	£1,810
Gas	5	£1,162
Telephone Usage/Rental	13	£549
Buildings Insurance	1	£200
Electricity	2	£171
Water	2	£100

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£7,269

Largest claims, 2017-18

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 2018	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2017-18 year	£138,091	£138,091
31 March 2018	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2017-18	£7,269	£7,269
14 April 2017	Accommodation	Council Tax	3052017	£1,810	£1,810
23 February 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£875	£875
26 January 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£875	£875
21 December 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£875	£875
24 November 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£875	£875
29 October 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£875	£875
29 September 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£875	£875
29 August 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£875	£875
27 July 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£875	£875
27 June 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£875	£875
25 May 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£875	£875
25 April 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£875	£875
1 April 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£875	£875

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 Bridget Phillipson 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 · Bridget Phillipson’s register of interests and votes · Sources