MPs’ business costs

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown

IPSA paid £2,397,195 against 1,918 published rows for Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for The Cotswolds CC, then North Cotswolds 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, 2020-21

132 claims, £187,448 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.1£158,44084.5%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.94£22,93612.2%
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.32£4,0262.1%
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.5£2,0471.1%

Every year in the register

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown’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
2010-1173£81,975£9,858£2,284£94,117
2011-12167£102,075£11,261£4,298£117,633
2012-13187£118,230£12,831£4,365£135,426
2013-14133£115,240£9,823£3,766£128,829
2014-1581£118,256£11,247£3,403£132,906
2015-1687£122,882£11,391£2,393£136,667
2016-1757£130,584£10,418£3,138£144,139
2017-1857£125,296£10,987£1,946£138,229
2018-1968£137,017£10,547£10,773£2,799£161,136
2019-20142£110,985£11,475£10,392£3,517£136,369
2020-21132£158,440£22,936£4,026£2,047£187,448
2021-22135£170,197£17,519£4,628£4,362£196,705
2022-23189£172,804£24,703£4,173£3,570£205,249
2023-24148£179,246£23,571£3,683£6,168£212,668
2024-25178£216,501£28,921£3,582£3,846£252,851
2025-2684£657£13,500£2,666£16,823

A year in which Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown 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, 2020-21

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£158,440

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Bought-in services4£6,012
Stationery & printing49£4,422
Equipment - purchase4£3,361
Pooled staffing services1£3,056
Website hosting and design2£2,330
Working From Home Allowance1£1,117

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Service charge & ground Rent2£1,965
Utilities19£1,244
Insurance - buildings1£528
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage10£289

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Mileage - car3£2,010
Congestion charge & toll1£30
Parking1£7

Largest claims, 2020-21

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 2021StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2020-21 year£158,440£158,440
27 May 2020Office CostsPooled staffing servicesPolicy Research Unit (Conservative)£3,056£3,056
29 July 2020Office CostsBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£3,000£3,000
9 July 2020Office CostsEquipment - purchaseComputer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories£2,587£2,587
17 September 2020Office CostsWebsite hosting and designButtermountain Invoice No. [***] : Period 1 April - 31 March 2021£2,150£2,150
31 March 2021MP TravelMileage - carAggregated figure for travel during 2020-21£1,770£1,770
10 March 2021Office CostsBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£1,440£1,440
10 March 2021Office CostsBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£1,440£1,440
31 March 2021Office CostsWorking From Home AllowanceAggregated figure for 2020-21£1,117£1,117
18 December 2020AccommodationService charge & ground RentHalf yearly service charges£992£992
26 April 2020AccommodationService charge & ground RentHalf yearly Service Charge£973£973
14 February 2021Office CostsSoftware & applicationsAnnual hosting and support fee for Caseworker data management system£600£600
7 December 2020AccommodationInsurance - buildingsAnnual Buildings Insurance£528£528
26 October 2020Office CostsEquipment - purchaseOffice furniture£525£525
2 November 2020Office CostsEquipment - purchasePrinter, photocopier & scanner£329£329

Claims refused and money repaid, 2020-21

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £149 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 Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown 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 · Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown’s register of interests and votes · Sources