MPs’ business costs

Clive Efford

IPSA paid £2,805,662 against 1,030 published rows for Clive Efford between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Eltham BC, then Eltham and Chislehurst BC. 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, 2012-13

63 claims, £163,966 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	£137,528	83.9%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	58	£24,724	15.1%
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	£1,009	0.6%
Miscellaneous	Claims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.	3	£706	0.4%

Every year in the register

Clive Efford’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	Travel	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	58	£82,610	£13,552	£260	—	£96,422
2011-12	73	£132,029	£19,731	£442	£580	£152,781
2012-13	63	£137,528	£24,724	£1,009	£706	£163,966
2013-14	92	£147,090	£24,162	£710	—	£171,962
2014-15	80	£145,323	£22,164	£737	—	£168,225
2015-16	80	£145,882	£22,585	£360	—	£168,827
2016-17	74	£154,608	£19,939	£360	—	£174,907
2017-18	82	£158,301	£24,155	£160	—	£182,616
2018-19	65	£162,219	£21,455	£721	—	£184,395
2019-20	67	£133,521	£18,160	£384	—	£152,066
2020-21	41	£178,467	£17,496	£1,680	—	£197,643
2021-22	29	£206,212	£21,730	£264	—	£228,206
2022-23	85	£216,318	£23,322	£957	—	£240,597
2023-24	60	£223,526	£23,747	£520	£912	£248,705
2024-25	55	£241,434	£25,190	£685	—	£267,308
2025-26	26	—	£7,037	—	—	£7,037

A year in which Clive Efford 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, 2012-13

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£137,528

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	4	£10,556
Professional Services: Direct	1	£4,800
Advertising	1	£1,426
Website - Hosting	1	£1,418
Venue Hire Surgery/Meeting	8	£1,413
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	19	£1,102

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£1,009

Miscellaneous

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Removal Costs - Contingency	3	£706

Largest claims, 2012-13

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 2013	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2012-13 year	£137,528	£137,528
31 March 2013	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	transfer split from 13/14 to 12/13	£8,000	£8,000
2 April 2012	Office Costs	Professional Services: Direct	PRS	£4,800	£4,800
21 December 2012	Office Costs	Advertising	Surgery advert	£1,426	£1,426
18 June 2012	Office Costs	Website - Hosting	Website and email account	£1,418	£1,418
31 March 2013	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2012-13	£1,009	£1,009
23 May 2012	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£852	£852
25 April 2012	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£852	£852
1 April 2012	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£852	£852
9 August 2012	Office Costs	Legal Expenses Insurance	EPL	£604	£604
12 November 2012	Office Costs	Furniture Purchase	Office furniture	£601	£601
20 April 2012	Office Costs	Venue Hire Surgery/Meeting	—	£494	£494
28 September 2012	Office Costs	Television Purchase	Office Equipment	£357	£357
6 March 2013	Office Costs	Software Purchase	Computing For Labour	£350	£350
20 April 2012	Office Costs	Software Purchase	Computing for Labour	£350	£350

Claims refused and money repaid, 2012-13

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £79 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 Clive Efford 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 · Clive Efford’s register of interests and votes · Sources