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, 2013-14

103 claims, £109,270 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	£68,892	63.0%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	80	£11,157	10.2%
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.	20	£19,826	18.1%
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	£9,394	8.6%

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.

Year	Claims	Staffing	Office costs	Accommodation	Travel	Total
2010-11	109	£74,164	£8,529	£18,460	£5,204	£106,358
2011-12	111	£92,428	£13,702	£19,401	£5,824	£131,355
2012-13	118	£77,343	£14,140	£19,556	£7,273	£118,312
2013-14	103	£68,892	£11,157	£19,826	£9,394	£109,270
2014-15	101	£79,000	£12,488	£19,485	£9,342	£120,315
2015-16	104	£80,987	£10,954	£17,285	£8,648	£117,873
2016-17	75	£80,109	£11,564	£20,211	£8,002	£119,886
2017-18	62	£84,210	£10,405	£22,063	£4,189	£120,868
2018-19	51	£88,804	£11,428	£18,783	£9,065	£128,081
2019-20	105	£100,538	£13,668	£21,674	£2,237	£138,117
2020-21	64	£99,380	£14,083	£20,187	£4,245	£137,896
2021-22	49	£121,405	£14,433	£22,091	£6,419	£164,348
2022-23	68	£126,680	£12,734	£22,387	£6,984	£168,785
2023-24	59	£147,125	£13,109	£22,300	£7,090	£189,624
2024-25	63	£179,687	£13,793	£26,560	£8,942	£228,982
2025-26	14	—	£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, 2013-14

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£64,092
Pooled Services: Direct	1	£4,800

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	13	£7,510
Stationery Purchase	26	£1,273
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	25	£1,119
Legal Expenses Insurance	1	£578
Contents Insurance	2	£363
Website - Hosting	1	£119

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	12	£18,287
Council Tax	1	£681
Water	1	£443
Electricity	5	£271
Television Licence	1	£146

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£9,394

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	£64,092	£64,092
31 March 2014	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2013-14	£9,394	£9,394
29 April 2013	Staffing	Pooled Services: Direct	PRS subscription	£4,800	£4,800
5 March 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,538	£1,538
3 February 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,538	£1,538
19 December 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,538	£1,538
5 December 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,538	£1,538
4 November 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,538	£1,538
2 October 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,538	£1,538
5 September 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,538	£1,538
5 August 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,538	£1,538
3 July 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,495	£1,495
4 June 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,495	£1,495
2 May 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,495	£1,495
8 April 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,495	£1,495

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