MPs’ business costs

Sir Iain Duncan Smith

IPSA paid £2,621,125 against 991 published rows for Sir Iain Duncan Smith between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Chingford and Woodford Green 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, 2016-17

47 claims, £143,128 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.	4	£128,189	89.6%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	42	£14,014	9.8%
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	£925	0.6%

Every year in the register

Sir Iain Duncan Smith’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	Travel	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	64	£87,327	£20,259	£531	—	£108,117
2011-12	63	£106,830	£20,112	£629	—	£127,571
2012-13	66	£112,494	£17,524	£718	—	£130,736
2013-14	64	£102,945	£14,935	£995	—	£118,874
2014-15	26	£115,714	£13,609	£933	—	£130,256
2015-16	42	£128,587	£15,172	£1,398	—	£145,157
2016-17	47	£128,189	£14,014	£925	—	£143,128
2017-18	41	£131,828	£18,785	£2,609	—	£153,222
2018-19	50	£150,699	£22,469	£3,423	—	£176,592
2019-20	76	£158,666	£23,743	£2,463	—	£184,873
2020-21	66	£175,011	£30,699	£909	—	£206,619
2021-22	54	£197,447	£13,234	£1,035	—	£211,717
2022-23	105	£208,684	£24,180	£4,213	£1,440	£238,516
2023-24	72	£238,162	£24,807	£2,104	—	£265,073
2024-25	98	£236,375	£24,907	£4,173	—	£265,454
2025-26	57	—	£15,221	—	—	£15,221

A year in which Sir Iain Duncan Smith 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, 2016-17

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£124,319
Professional Services (Staff.)	1	£3,823
Health and Welfare Costs	2	£47

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	1	£6,315
Website - Hosting	2	£3,027
Stationery Purchase	18	£1,802
Computer SW Purchase	1	£900
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	12	£677
Computer HW Purchase	4	£638

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£925

Largest claims, 2016-17

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 2017	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2016-17 year	£124,319	£124,319
31 October 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	constituency office rent 2016	£6,315	£6,315
31 October 2016	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Services of pooled staff	£3,823	£3,823
20 April 2016	Office Costs	Website - Hosting	Buttermountain - website	£2,700	£2,700
31 March 2017	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2016-17	£925	£925
25 May 2016	Office Costs	Computer SW Purchase	PRU	£900	£900
13 September 2016	Office Costs	Computer HW Purchase	Purchase of IT Equipment	£400	£400
17 February 2017	Office Costs	Website - Hosting	Buttermountain invoice	£327	£327
13 September 2016	Office Costs	Tel/Mobile Purchase	Purchase of IT Equipment	£318	£318
12 October 2016	Office Costs	Stationery Purchase	XMA Ltd	£299	£299
27 January 2017	Office Costs	Stationery Purchase	Banner	£288	£288
28 April 2016	Office Costs	Newspapers/Journals	Newquest invoice	£203	£203
21 February 2017	Office Costs	Stationery Purchase	XMA Ltd	£187	£187
29 March 2017	Office Costs	Stationery Purchase	Banner	£172	£172
13 September 2016	Office Costs	Computer HW Purchase	Purchase of IT Equipment	£145	£145

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 Sir Iain Duncan Smith 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 · Sir Iain Duncan Smith’s register of interests and votes · Sources