MPs’ business costs

Gill Furniss

IPSA paid £2,131,059 against 1,151 published rows for Gill Furniss between 2016-17 and 2025-26 as the member for Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough BC, then Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough BC. 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, 2018-19

107 claims, £200,328 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.	23	£149,664	74.7%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	61	£22,179	11.1%
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.	22	£21,888	10.9%
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	£6,598	3.3%

Every year in the register

Gill Furniss’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2016-17 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	Starting up and winding up	Miscellaneous	Total
2016-17	114	£121,106	£17,884	£18,113	£5,389	£5,985	—	£168,477
2017-18	125	£137,356	£22,197	£22,851	£7,198	—	—	£189,602
2018-19	107	£149,664	£22,179	£21,888	£6,598	—	—	£200,328
2019-20	114	£144,405	£25,797	£19,926	£13,404	—	—	£203,532
2020-21	96	£165,253	£27,934	£26,211	£3,653	—	£4,760	£227,811
2021-22	132	£198,622	£22,191	£22,280	£4,584	—	—	£247,678
2022-23	167	£217,928	£24,085	£23,022	£5,418	—	—	£270,453
2023-24	139	£235,794	£23,802	£27,376	£5,223	—	—	£292,194
2024-25	114	£249,525	£26,743	£28,594	£9,494	—	£8,400	£322,755
2025-26	43	—	£6,761	£1,468	—	—	—	£8,229

A year in which Gill Furniss 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, 2018-19

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£137,079
Pooled Services	1	£7,792
Professional Services (Staff.)	2	£3,930
Staff Training Costs	1	£624
Health and Welfare Costs	1	£210
Food & Drink Volunteer	7	£18

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	4	£11,800
Professional Services: Direct	1	£4,800
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	24	£2,233
Furniture Purchase	2	£882
Stationery Purchase	10	£680
Computer SW Purchase	2	£535

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	14	£20,346
Council Tax	1	£754
Electricity	5	£314
Water	1	£253
Telephone Usage/Rental	1	£220

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£6,598

Largest claims, 2018-19

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 2019	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2018-19 year	£137,079	£137,079
18 February 2019	Staffing	Pooled Services	Staffing Claim	£7,792	£7,792
31 March 2019	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2018-19	£6,598	£6,598
1 April 2018	Office Costs	Professional Services: Direct	PRS	£4,800	£4,800
31 March 2019	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Staffing Claim	£3,795	£3,795
12 March 2019	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£3,303	£3,303
22 November 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£2,833	£2,833
22 August 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£2,833	£2,833
23 May 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£2,833	£2,833
20 February 2019	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,692	£1,692
17 January 2019	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,692	£1,692
16 December 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,692	£1,692
16 November 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,692	£1,692
16 October 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,692	£1,692
13 September 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,692	£1,692

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 Gill Furniss 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 · Gill Furniss’s register of interests and votes · Sources