MPs’ business costs

George Freeman

IPSA paid £2,981,516 against 2,869 published rows for George Freeman between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Mid Norfolk 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, 2019-20

126 claims, £166,247 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	£145,159	87.3%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	115	£17,476	10.5%
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.	9	£2,600	1.6%
Miscellaneous	Claims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.	1	£1,012	0.6%

Every year in the register

George Freeman’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	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	177	£84,359	£11,359	£3,521	£4,634	—	£103,872
2011-12	167	£113,216	£19,513	£3,960	£6,315	—	£143,004
2012-13	196	£132,367	£19,229	£7,628	£5,613	—	£164,836
2013-14	342	£129,147	£23,721	£10,087	£7,074	—	£170,029
2014-15	206	£137,352	£19,288	£12,467	£5,610	—	£174,717
2015-16	108	£139,794	£16,001	£25,450	£3,422	—	£184,667
2016-17	133	£142,097	£20,799	£25,460	£4,347	—	£192,704
2017-18	114	£147,947	£17,909	£25,549	£4,462	—	£195,867
2018-19	110	£145,893	£23,622	£27,518	£3,466	—	£200,498
2019-20	126	£145,159	£17,476	—	£2,600	£1,012	£166,247
2020-21	162	£175,978	£22,600	£11,855	£932	£4,469	£215,834
2021-22	225	£201,569	£19,118	£16,320	£3,591	—	£240,598
2022-23	219	£209,542	£25,047	£17,840	£5,532	—	£257,961
2023-24	262	£207,777	£29,936	£19,090	£5,889	—	£262,692
2024-25	232	£223,565	£29,856	£19,734	£7,910	£7,143	£288,208
2025-26	90	£4,470	£14,629	£683	—	—	£19,782

A year in which George Freeman 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, 2019-20

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£145,159

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	12	£4,975
Stationery & printing	54	£3,784
Pooled staffing services	1	£3,133
Website hosting and design	4	£2,920
Mobile telephone - contract & usage	11	£843
Software & applications	1	£500

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Mileage - car	3	£1,789
Rail	2	£766
Taxi	1	£26
Parking	2	£14
Other public transport	1	£5

Miscellaneous

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Insurance - buildings	1	£1,012

Largest claims, 2019-20

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 2020	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2019-20 year	£145,159	£145,159
15 May 2019	Office Costs	Pooled staffing services	Policy Research Unit (Conservative)	£3,133	£3,133
31 March 2020	MP Travel	Mileage - car	Aggregated figure for travel during 2019-20	£1,230	£1,230
14 April 2019	Miscellaneous	Insurance - buildings	Buildings Insurance	£1,012	£1,012
2 January 2020	Office Costs	Website hosting and design	Invoice No. [***]	£730	£730
1 October 2019	Office Costs	Website hosting and design	Buttermountain Invoice - Invoice No. [***]	£730	£730
1 July 2019	Office Costs	Website hosting and design	Invoice No. [***]	£730	£730
1 April 2019	Office Costs	Website hosting and design	Buttermountain Political Communications (1st April - 30th June 2019) Invoice No. [***]	£730	£730
2 March 2020	Office Costs	Rent	[***]	£500	£500
3 February 2020	Office Costs	Rent	[***]	£500	£500
2 January 2020	Office Costs	Rent	[***]	£500	£500
1 October 2019	Office Costs	Rent	[***]	£500	£500
2 September 2019	Office Costs	Rent	Invoice No. [***]	£500	£500
1 August 2019	Office Costs	Rent	Invoice No. [***]	£500	£500
17 June 2019	Office Costs	Software & applications	Invoice No. [***]	£500	£500

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 George Freeman 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 · George Freeman’s register of interests and votes · Sources