MPs’ business costs

Hilary Benn

IPSA paid £2,440,758 against 1,969 published rows for Hilary Benn between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Leeds Central BC, then Leeds South 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, 2015-16

147 claims, £159,488 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.	62	£134,769	84.5%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	53	£15,419	9.7%
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.	31	£4,428	2.8%
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	£4,872	3.1%

Every year in the register

Hilary Benn’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	112	£76,017	£20,098	£3,374	£8,075	—	£107,564
2011-12	132	£99,445	£20,585	£3,948	£8,624	—	£132,602
2012-13	203	£123,031	£22,101	£4,067	£8,260	—	£157,458
2013-14	220	£126,144	£21,226	£4,320	£7,962	—	£159,652
2014-15	201	£129,594	£23,453	£4,392	£6,478	£2,979	£166,897
2015-16	147	£134,769	£15,419	£4,428	£4,872	—	£159,488
2016-17	114	£140,314	£16,327	£4,379	£6,772	—	£167,791
2017-18	94	£140,986	£16,172	£4,232	£6,213	—	£167,604
2018-19	100	£124,024	£19,908	£4,377	£7,107	—	£155,415
2019-20	91	£139,401	£17,987	£4,528	£4,965	—	£166,880
2020-21	85	£132,712	£17,667	£4,131	£1,415	—	£155,926
2021-22	85	£148,272	£18,114	£4,123	£3,653	—	£174,162
2022-23	115	£149,052	£14,022	£5,348	£4,541	—	£172,964
2023-24	121	£169,811	£15,240	£5,389	£4,065	—	£194,504
2024-25	101	£162,859	£15,318	£5,339	£1,984	—	£185,500
2025-26	48	—	£9,746	£6,604	—	—	£16,350

A year in which Hilary Benn 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, 2015-16

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£131,423
Pooled Services: Direct	3	£2,800
Food & Drink Volunteer	32	£258
Public Tr UND Volunteer	10	£216
Public Tr RAIL Volunteer - RT	6	£49
Public Tr BUS Volunteer	10	£23

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	9	£5,346
Software Purchase	1	£2,500
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	13	£1,794
Computer HW Purchase	4	£1,545
Const Office Rent 2	2	£1,020
Stationery Purchase	11	£962

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Service Charges	12	£2,046
Council Tax	10	£1,368
Electricity	4	£554
Telephone Usage/Rental	3	£386
Ground Rent	1	£60
Home Contents Insurance	1	£14

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£4,872

Largest claims, 2015-16

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 2016	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2015-16 year	£131,423	£131,423
31 March 2016	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2015-16	£4,872	£4,872
9 July 2015	Office Costs	Software Purchase	CMITS case management system	£2,500	£2,500
27 January 2016	Staffing	Pooled Services: Direct	PRS	£1,200	£1,200
29 June 2015	Staffing	Pooled Services: Direct	PRS	£1,200	£1,200
29 February 2016	Office Costs	Computer HW Purchase	Payment card reconciliation	£1,058	£1,058
25 February 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£594	£594
27 January 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£594	£594
25 December 2015	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£594	£594
25 November 2015	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£594	£594
27 October 2015	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£594	£594
24 September 2015	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£594	£594
27 August 2015	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£594	£594
27 July 2015	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£594	£594
10 July 2015	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£594	£594

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 Hilary Benn 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 · Hilary Benn’s register of interests and votes · Sources