MPs’ business costs

Dame Harriett Baldwin

IPSA paid £2,589,220 against 2,363 published rows for Dame Harriett Baldwin between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for West Worcestershire 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, 2010-11

137 claims, £112,750 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	£81,350	72.2%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	100	£16,891	15.0%
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.	34	£7,276	6.5%
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.	1	£7,233	6.4%

Every year in the register

Dame Harriett Baldwin’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	137	£81,350	£16,891	£7,276	£7,233	£112,750
2011-12	137	£114,643	£17,517	£4,788	£7,593	£144,541
2012-13	154	£132,837	£21,541	£2,988	£8,732	£166,097
2013-14	167	£124,793	£18,103	£4,204	£7,988	£155,087
2014-15	155	£126,044	£16,972	£4,348	£7,179	£154,544
2015-16	133	£136,299	£19,334	£2,557	£6,626	£164,816
2016-17	131	£139,135	£19,825	£5,768	£7,173	£171,901
2017-18	119	£123,681	£15,061	£2,567	£6,121	£147,429
2018-19	105	£137,761	£16,814	£5,479	£5,488	£165,542
2019-20	178	£131,828	£21,584	£2,465	£5,783	£161,660
2020-21	107	£161,987	£18,566	£3,920	£3,701	£188,174
2021-22	178	£136,700	£24,441	£4,149	£5,193	£170,483
2022-23	202	£166,850	£23,568	£3,795	£6,485	£200,698
2023-24	209	£181,543	£23,886	£7,059	£7,069	£219,557
2024-25	188	£212,045	£24,234	£1,900	£6,529	£244,708
2025-26	63	—	£15,179	£6,053	—	£21,233

A year in which Dame Harriett Baldwin 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, 2010-11

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£77,472
Pooled Staffing Services	1	£3,878

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	11	£5,860
Stationery Purchase	27	£2,684
Computer SW Purchase	1	£2,516
Website - Design/Production	6	£1,980
Office Furniture Purchase	1	£1,199
Const Office Electricity	7	£649

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	5	£3,485
Council Tax	10	£1,687
Internet	3	£505
Other Fuel	1	£464
Electricity	5	£300
Gas	1	£286

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£7,233

Largest claims, 2010-11

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 2011	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2010-11 year	£77,472	£77,472
31 March 2011	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2010-11	£7,233	£7,233
21 June 2010	Staffing	Pooled Staffing Services	Parliamentary Resources Unit	£3,878	£3,878
27 January 2011	Office Costs	Computer SW Purchase	Computer SW Purchase	£2,516	£2,516
10 August 2010	Office Costs	Office Furniture Purchase	constituency office furniture	£1,199	£1,199
12 October 2010	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Rental Deposit Malvern officce	£833	£833
1 September 2010	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	September rent	£697	£697
22 July 2010	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	August rent	£697	£697
13 July 2010	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	July rent	£697	£697
30 June 2010	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	June rental	£697	£697
30 June 2010	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Rent from May 6th - May 31st	£697	£697
25 February 2011	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£668	£668
1 February 2011	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Feb rent/service charge MHSP	£668	£668
1 January 2011	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Constituency Office Rent	£654	£654
2 December 2010	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Dec Office rent	£654	£654

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 Dame Harriett Baldwin 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 · Dame Harriett Baldwin’s register of interests and votes · Sources