Civometry

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, 2023-24

121 claims, £194,504 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.5£169,81187.3%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.82£15,2407.8%
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.31£5,3892.8%
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.3£4,0652.1%

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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsAccommodationTravelMiscellaneousTotal
2010-11112£76,017£20,098£3,374£8,075—£107,564
2011-12132£99,445£20,585£3,948£8,624—£132,602
2012-13203£123,031£22,101£4,067£8,260—£157,458
2013-14220£126,144£21,226£4,320£7,962—£159,652
2014-15201£129,594£23,453£4,392£6,478£2,979£166,897
2015-16147£134,769£15,419£4,428£4,872—£159,488
2016-17114£140,314£16,327£4,379£6,772—£167,791
2017-1894£140,986£16,172£4,232£6,213—£167,604
2018-19100£124,024£19,908£4,377£7,107—£155,415
2019-2091£139,401£17,987£4,528£4,965—£166,880
2020-2185£132,712£17,667£4,131£1,415—£155,926
2021-2285£148,272£18,114£4,123£3,653—£174,162
2022-23115£149,052£14,022£5,348£4,541—£172,964
2023-24121£169,811£15,240£5,389£4,065—£194,504
2024-25101£162,859£15,318£5,339£1,984—£185,500
2025-2648—£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, 2023-24

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£165,311
Pooled staffing services4£4,500

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Service charge & ground Rent12£5,817
Rent12£2,821
Stationery & printing14£2,160
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage4£1,043
Software & applications2£741
Bought-in services1£615

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Service charge & ground Rent12£2,625
Council tax10£1,958
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage4£498
Utilities5£308

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rail1£2,222
Mileage - car2£1,843

Largest claims, 2023-24

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 2024StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2023-24 year£165,311£165,311
31 March 2024MP TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2023-24£2,222£2,222
31 March 2024MP TravelMileage - carAggregated figure for travel during 2023-24£1,755£1,755
21 March 2024StaffingPooled staffing servicesParliamentary Research Service (Labour)£1,125£1,125
21 March 2024StaffingPooled staffing servicesParliamentary Research Service (Labour)£1,125£1,125
20 November 2023StaffingPooled staffing servicesParliamentary Research Service (Labour)£1,125£1,125
4 July 2023StaffingPooled staffing servicesParliamentary Research Service (Labour)£1,125£1,125
18 October 2023Office CostsSoftware & applicationsELECTED TECHNOLOGIES£690£690
2 November 2023Office CostsBought-in servicesParliamentary accountancy£615£615
22 March 2023Office CostsStationery & printingBanner April 2023£492£492
27 February 2024Office CostsService charge & ground Rentoffice service charge£485£485
31 January 2024Office CostsService charge & ground RentOffice service charge February 2024£485£485
15 December 2023Office CostsService charge & ground RentService charge for January 2024£485£485
6 December 2023Office CostsService charge & ground Rentservice charge December 2023£485£485
1 November 2023Office CostsService charge & ground RentService charge reimbursement November 2023£485£485

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