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, 2022-23

219 claims, £257,961 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£209,54281.2%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.176£25,0479.7%
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.29£17,8406.9%
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.12£5,5322.1%

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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsAccommodationTravelMiscellaneousTotal
2010-11177£84,359£11,359£3,521£4,634£103,872
2011-12167£113,216£19,513£3,960£6,315£143,004
2012-13196£132,367£19,229£7,628£5,613£164,836
2013-14342£129,147£23,721£10,087£7,074£170,029
2014-15206£137,352£19,288£12,467£5,610£174,717
2015-16108£139,794£16,001£25,450£3,422£184,667
2016-17133£142,097£20,799£25,460£4,347£192,704
2017-18114£147,947£17,909£25,549£4,462£195,867
2018-19110£145,893£23,622£27,518£3,466£200,498
2019-20126£145,159£17,476£2,600£1,012£166,247
2020-21162£175,978£22,600£11,855£932£4,469£215,834
2021-22225£201,569£19,118£16,320£3,591£240,598
2022-23219£209,542£25,047£17,840£5,532£257,961
2023-24262£207,777£29,936£19,090£5,889£262,692
2024-25232£223,565£29,856£19,734£7,910£7,143£288,208
2025-2690£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, 2022-23

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£209,334
Working From Home Allowance1£208

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent12£7,900
Equipment - purchase11£4,442
Website hosting and design6£3,416
Pooled staffing services1£3,088
Stationery & printing45£2,525
Software & applications18£893

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent10£14,920
Council tax3£1,785
Utilities8£748
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage8£387

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Mileage - car6£3,346
Hotel - London1£1,114
Rail1£843
Congestion charge & toll1£120
Subsistence1£86
Other public transport1£17

Largest claims, 2022-23

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 2023StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2022-23 year£209,334£209,334
28 April 2022Office CostsPooled staffing servicesPolicy Research Unit (Conservative)£3,088£3,088
2 April 2022AccommodationRentApril and May Rent£2,800£2,800
31 March 2023MP TravelMileage - carAggregated figure for travel during 2022-23£2,336£2,336
28 October 2022Office CostsEquipment - purchaseComputer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories£1,880£1,880
1 January 2023AccommodationRentJanuary Rent£1,400£1,400
1 December 2022AccommodationRentDecember Rent£1,400£1,400
1 November 2022AccommodationRentConstituency Cottage Rent£1,400£1,400
1 October 2022AccommodationRentConstituency Cottage Rent - October£1,400£1,400
1 September 2022AccommodationRentSeptember Rent£1,400£1,400
1 August 2022AccommodationRentConstituency Cottage Rent£1,400£1,400
1 July 2022AccommodationRentJuly Rent£1,400£1,400
2 June 2022AccommodationRentJune Rent£1,400£1,400
31 March 2023Staff TravelHotel - LondonAggregated figure for travel during 2022-23£1,114£1,114
23 June 2022Office CostsEquipment - purchaseComputer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories£968£968

Claims refused and money repaid, 2022-23

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £723 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 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

George Freeman: business costs paid by IPSA, 2010-11 to 2025-26 | Civometry