MPs’ business costs

Chris Bryant

IPSA paid £2,911,335 against 1,779 published rows for Chris Bryant between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Rhondda CC, then Rhondda and Ogmore 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, 2013-14

128 claims, £165,944 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	£119,773	72.2%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	113	£15,287	9.2%
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.	13	£20,061	12.1%
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	£10,823	6.5%

Every year in the register

Chris Bryant’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	114	£90,223	£11,891	£15,558	£8,208	£1,700	£127,580
2011-12	126	£105,343	£12,447	£19,774	£9,475	—	£147,039
2012-13	112	£119,456	£13,668	£19,915	£10,643	—	£163,682
2013-14	128	£119,773	£15,287	£20,061	£10,823	—	£165,944
2014-15	90	£118,594	£12,853	£20,553	£8,133	—	£160,134
2015-16	116	£134,669	£15,014	£9,862	£9,271	£1,758	£170,574
2016-17	108	£142,720	£18,242	£8,735	£12,174	—	£181,871
2017-18	109	£131,119	£21,828	£8,849	£10,881	—	£172,677
2018-19	92	£139,343	£24,198	£5,150	£12,955	£650	£182,297
2019-20	144	£135,997	£24,849	£5,266	£16,779	—	£182,892
2020-21	96	£172,596	£18,425	£10,409	£4,315	—	£205,746
2021-22	131	£177,519	£21,720	£6,390	£10,157	—	£215,786
2022-23	136	£223,681	£17,185	—	£12,377	—	£253,242
2023-24	144	£229,252	£30,776	£6,329	£19,169	—	£285,526
2024-25	88	£238,344	£21,255	£6,630	£10,893	—	£277,121
2025-26	45	£1,950	£10,403	£6,870	—	—	£19,223

A year in which Chris Bryant 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, 2013-14

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£119,773

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	4	£4,200
Stationery Purchase	26	£2,854
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	32	£2,731
Const Office Gas	5	£1,249
Professional Services	6	£909
Other	18	£871

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	12	£18,700
Council Tax	1	£1,361

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£10,823

Largest claims, 2013-14

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 2014	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2013-14 year	£119,773	£119,773
31 March 2014	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2013-14	£10,823	£10,823
28 January 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	february rent	£1,600	£1,600
30 December 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	january rent	£1,600	£1,600
28 November 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	december rent	£1,600	£1,600
28 October 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	november rent	£1,600	£1,600
30 September 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	october rent	£1,600	£1,600
28 August 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	rent august and september	£1,600	£1,600
29 July 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	rent august and september	£1,600	£1,600
28 June 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	rent july	£1,600	£1,600
28 May 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	rent	£1,600	£1,600
26 April 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	rent april/may	£1,600	£1,600
1 April 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	rent april/may	£1,600	£1,600
15 April 2013	Accommodation	Council Tax	Payment Card May 2013	£1,361	£1,361
28 February 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	march rent	£1,100	£1,100

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 Chris Bryant 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 · Chris Bryant’s register of interests and votes · Sources