MPs’ business costs

Derek Twigg

IPSA paid £2,104,794 against 1,256 published rows for Derek Twigg between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Halton CC, then Widnes and Halewood 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, 2010-11

109 claims, £106,358 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.

CategoryWhat it coversClaimsPaidShare
StaffingThe 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£74,16469.7%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.70£8,5298.0%
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.36£18,46017.4%
TravelJourneys 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£5,2044.9%

Every year in the register

Derek Twigg’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 costsAccommodationTravelTotal
2010-11109£74,164£8,529£18,460£5,204£106,358
2011-12111£92,428£13,702£19,401£5,824£131,355
2012-13118£77,343£14,140£19,556£7,273£118,312
2013-14103£68,892£11,157£19,826£9,394£109,270
2014-15101£79,000£12,488£19,485£9,342£120,315
2015-16104£80,987£10,954£17,285£8,648£117,873
2016-1775£80,109£11,564£20,211£8,002£119,886
2017-1862£84,210£10,405£22,063£4,189£120,868
2018-1951£88,804£11,428£18,783£9,065£128,081
2019-20105£100,538£13,668£21,674£2,237£138,117
2020-2164£99,380£14,083£20,187£4,245£137,896
2021-2249£121,405£14,433£22,091£6,419£164,348
2022-2368£126,680£12,734£22,387£6,984£168,785
2023-2459£147,125£13,109£22,300£7,090£189,624
2024-2563£179,687£13,793£26,560£8,942£228,982
2025-2614£2,735£1,990£4,725

A year in which Derek Twigg 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, 2010-11

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£73,986
Food & Drink Intern/Volunteer1£178

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Const Office Rent11£4,233
Const Office Electricity11£1,257
Professional Services10£713
Telephone/Mobile Hire9£518
Stationery Purchase7£375
Photocopier Hire7£303

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Accommodation Rent13£17,373
Council Tax8£547
Water7£279
Service Charges3£156
Gas3£78
Electricity2£26

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Aggregated Travel Costs1£5,204

Largest claims, 2010-11

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
31 March 2011StaffingPayrollTotal payroll costs for the 2010-11 year£73,986£73,986
31 March 2011TravelAggregated Travel CostsAggregated figure for travel during 2010-11£5,204£5,204
29 March 2011AccommodationAccommodation RentLondon Flat£1,447£1,447
11 March 2011AccommodationAccommodation RentLondon Flat Rent£1,447£1,447
25 January 2011AccommodationAccommodation RentLondon flat rent£1,447£1,447
15 December 2010AccommodationAccommodation RentLondon Flat rent£1,447£1,447
23 November 2010AccommodationAccommodation Rentlondon flat rent£1,447£1,447
20 October 2010AccommodationAccommodation Rentflat london£1,447£1,447
29 September 2010AccommodationAccommodation Rent1st Rent June, [***]£1,447£1,447
20 September 2010AccommodationAccommodation Rentseptember flkat rent£1,447£1,447
20 August 2010AccommodationAccommodation RentLondon flat rental£1,447£1,447
19 August 2010AccommodationAccommodation RentLondon Flat rent£1,447£1,447
1 July 2010AccommodationAccommodation Rentfirst months rent for flat£1,192£1,192
10 May 2010AccommodationAccommodation Rentrent£1,192£1,192
9 July 2010Office CostsConst Office Rentconstituency office expenses£793£793

Claims refused and money repaid, 2010-11

2 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £82 not paid and £0 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 Derek Twigg 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 · Derek Twigg’s register of interests and votes · Sources