MPs’ business costs

Debbie Abrahams

IPSA paid £2,995,178 against 1,494 published rows for Debbie Abrahams between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Oldham East and Saddleworth 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, 2025-26

59 claims, £13,292 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.

CategoryWhat it coversClaimsPaidShare
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.57£11,82789.0%
AccommodationThe 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.2£1,46511.0%

Every year in the register

Debbie Abrahams’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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsAccommodationTravelMiscellaneousTotal
2010-1112£19,840£1,877£1,790£1,262£24,769
2011-12132£114,431£25,990£20,041£8,158£168,619
2012-13151£130,064£21,252£23,184£7,045£181,544
2013-14154£125,075£20,280£20,100£8,072£173,527
2014-15110£145,003£20,425£20,021£7,705£193,154
2015-16108£140,000£22,853£20,600£7,938£191,391
2016-1786£137,828£21,063£20,610£9,310£188,810
2017-1877£150,900£21,954£21,287£8,560£202,701
2018-1985£153,582£18,247£20,543£9,011£280£201,664
2019-2077£154,490£13,611£17,584£9,640£195,324
2020-2177£177,532£21,407£20,926£1,538£221,404
2021-2272£190,230£10,321£20,994£4,180£225,725
2022-23102£192,812£23,006£21,045£7,314£244,177
2023-24115£222,475£25,505£20,971£10,013£278,964
2024-2577£243,855£14,202£23,219£8,836£290,112
2025-2659£11,827£1,465£13,292

A year in which Debbie Abrahams 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, 2025-26

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

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Stationery & printing17£3,580
Utilities17£2,805
Website hosting and design2£1,200
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage4£1,018
Software & applications2£858
Venue hire, meetings & surgeries6£787

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Council tax2£1,465

Largest claims, 2025-26

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.

DateCategoryCost typeDescriptionClaimedPaid
20 May 2025AccommodationCouncil tax[***] - CT [200011969-1]£1,323£1,323
13 May 2025Office CostsUtilitiesWater£1,052£1,052
10 February 2026Office CostsStationery & printingink£785£785
29 July 2025Office CostsSoftware & applicationsELECTED TECHNOLOGIES£738£738
15 December 2025Office CostsWebsite hosting and designCAUSEWAYCREATIVE.CO.UK£600£600
1 May 2025Office CostsWebsite hosting and designbilling year is april-april£600£600
15 July 2025Office CostsStationery & printingInvoice£472£472
17 February 2026Office CostsEquipment - purchaseOther office equipment£327£327
1 July 2025Office CostsStationery & printingprinting£301£301
5 August 2025Office CostsInsurance - buildingsAnnual Building insurance£297£297
8 April 2025Office CostsWaste disposal, confidential waste & rubbish collectionWWW.OLDHAM.GOV.UK£287£287
12 May 2025Office CostsVenue hire, meetings & surgeries£284£284
16 February 2026Office CostsLandline phone & internet - rental & usageLandline£278£278
8 July 2025Office CostsLandline phone & internet - rental & usageLandline & internet package£275£275
8 April 2025Office CostsUtilitiesGas£243£243

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 Debbie Abrahams 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 · Debbie Abrahams’s register of interests and votes · Sources