MPs’ business costs

Caroline Nokes

IPSA paid £2,437,483 against 2,045 published rows for Caroline Nokes between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Romsey and Southampton North 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, 2016-17

104 claims, £161,235 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.	2	£113,793	70.6%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	76	£17,920	11.1%
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.	25	£21,769	13.5%
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.	1	£7,752	4.8%

Every year in the register

Caroline Nokes’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	69	£51,219	£1,593	£17,000	£3,934	—	£73,747
2011-12	104	£80,080	£9,746	£12,712	£6,055	—	£108,594
2012-13	100	£85,480	£9,253	£16,911	£7,620	—	£119,263
2013-14	151	£70,808	£10,172	£12,891	£7,916	—	£101,786
2014-15	92	£99,684	£8,049	£14,343	£9,341	—	£131,417
2015-16	100	£140,478	£17,407	£17,695	£8,263	—	£183,843
2016-17	104	£113,793	£17,920	£21,769	£7,752	—	£161,235
2017-18	104	£115,941	£11,780	£20,624	£10,048	—	£158,393
2018-19	132	£107,713	£14,819	£19,017	£10,435	—	£151,984
2019-20	199	£142,772	£13,554	£14,690	£10,258	—	£181,274
2020-21	215	£149,225	£26,636	£17,021	£4,094	—	£196,976
2021-22	166	£146,747	£11,879	£23,666	£6,632	—	£188,923
2022-23	127	£160,042	£11,854	£23,340	£7,650	—	£202,885
2023-24	157	£169,532	£14,300	£15,398	£11,940	—	£211,170
2024-25	168	£187,823	£19,715	£19,290	£10,065	—	£236,893
2025-26	57	£9,768	£17,260	£1,791	—	£280	£29,099

A year in which Caroline Nokes 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, 2016-17

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£111,132
Pooled Services: Direct	1	£2,661

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Professional Services	6	£10,607
Const Office Rent	1	£2,750
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	26	£1,554
Computer HW Purchase	4	£1,139
Stationery Purchase	12	£704
Website - Hosting	3	£354

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	13	£19,085
Approved Security Measures	3	£1,278
Council Tax	2	£605
Service Charges	2	£456
Electricity	5	£346

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£7,752

Largest claims, 2016-17

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 2017	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2016-17 year	£111,132	£111,132
31 March 2017	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2016-17	£7,752	£7,752
31 August 2016	Office Costs	Professional Services	HR support	£4,800	£4,800
11 May 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Romsey Office	£2,750	£2,750
14 April 2016	Staffing	Pooled Services: Direct	PRU	£2,661	£2,661
20 September 2016	Office Costs	Professional Services	Office costs	£2,114	£2,114
4 April 2016	Office Costs	Professional Services	Staff Mediation	£1,840	£1,840
13 May 2016	Office Costs	Professional Services	Office costs	£1,691	£1,691
16 September 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,668	£1,668
16 August 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,668	£1,668
20 July 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,668	£1,668
16 June 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,668	£1,668
18 May 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,668	£1,668
19 April 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,668	£1,668
11 February 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,463	£1,463

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 Caroline Nokes 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 · Caroline Nokes’s register of interests and votes · Sources