MPs’ business costs

Helen Whately

IPSA paid £1,996,097 against 1,427 published rows for Helen Whately between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Faversham and Mid Kent 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, 2018-19

143 claims, £174,740 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	£142,085	81.3%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	105	£11,241	6.4%
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.	36	£18,339	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.	1	£3,076	1.8%

Every year in the register

Helen Whately’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2015-16 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
2015-16	90	£96,344	£6,934	£16,811	£2,885	£1,325	—	£124,300
2016-17	148	£134,264	£10,556	£19,200	£3,534	—	—	£167,554
2017-18	112	£131,743	£9,680	£26,019	£2,193	—	—	£169,635
2018-19	143	£142,085	£11,241	£18,339	£3,076	—	—	£174,740
2019-20	196	£133,979	£15,594	£28,978	£2,585	—	£7,800	£188,935
2020-21	134	£159,504	£11,026	£41,831	£700	—	—	£213,061
2021-22	114	£165,000	£12,423	£32,025	£2,454	—	—	£211,901
2022-23	147	£176,373	£9,335	£20,364	£3,497	—	—	£209,569
2023-24	141	£198,260	£19,065	£23,745	£3,671	—	—	£244,741
2024-25	143	£225,228	£14,931	£25,665	£3,392	—	—	£269,216
2025-26	59	—	£18,042	£4,401	—	—	—	£22,443

A year in which Helen Whately 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	£142,085

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Professional Services: Direct	2	£3,994
Computer HW Purchase	9	£1,293
Stationery Purchase	34	£1,113
Computer SW Purchase	7	£886
Newspapers/Journals	5	£816
Venue Hire Surgery/Meeting	11	£773

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	13	£15,021
Council Tax	8	£2,052
Telephone Usage/Rental	10	£824
Electricity	2	£216
Gas	2	£183
Water	1	£43

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£3,076

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	£142,085	£142,085
6 April 2018	Office Costs	Professional Services: Direct	PRU	£3,094	£3,094
31 March 2019	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2018-19	£3,076	£3,076
20 February 2019	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,950	£1,950
17 January 2019	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,950	£1,950
16 December 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,950	£1,950
29 October 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,950	£1,950
17 May 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,950	£1,950
17 April 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,950	£1,950
31 August 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,800	£1,800
1 April 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,667	£1,667
23 January 2019	Office Costs	Computer HW Purchase	Payment card Jan 19	£1,132	£1,132
6 April 2018	Office Costs	Professional Services: Direct	PRU	£900	£900
24 October 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£600	£600
24 September 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£600	£600

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 Helen Whately 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 · Helen Whately’s register of interests and votes · Sources