Civometry

MPs’ business costs

James Cartlidge

IPSA paid £1,906,118 against 1,338 published rows for James Cartlidge between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for South Suffolk 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, 2021-22

107 claims, £214,058 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.8£157,23873.5%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.72£18,4848.6%
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.19£34,37016.1%
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.8£3,9661.9%

Every year in the register

James Cartlidge’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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsAccommodationTravelStarting up and winding upTotal
2015-16150£83,093£10,812£9,713£4,153£4,280£112,051
2016-17165£126,241£14,100£12,610£5,188£1,096£159,235
2017-18117£110,853£16,608£12,090£4,840—£144,391
2018-19125£133,124£18,874£32,392£6,226—£190,616
2019-20144£137,199£18,421£32,874£6,283—£194,777
2020-2181£148,885£16,801£31,346£3,001—£200,032
2021-22107£157,238£18,484£34,370£3,966—£214,058
2022-23112£152,846£9,446£31,818£5,308—£199,418
2023-24157£143,062£15,657£36,767£4,004—£199,491
2024-25145£223,999£14,889£36,599£5,803—£281,289
2025-2635—£6,478£4,282——£10,760

A year in which James Cartlidge 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, 2021-22

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£157,045
Volunteer - agreed arrangement costs7£193

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Advertising and contact cards24£12,151
Pooled staffing services1£2,988
Working From Home Allowance1£942
Stationery & printing14£676
Software & applications1£600
Newspapers, journals, magazines13£546

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent1£32,500
Council tax7£1,147
Utilities11£723

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Mileage - car4£1,859
Rail2£1,784
Congestion charge & toll1£230
Parking1£93

Largest claims, 2021-22

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 2022StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2021-22 year£157,045£157,045
31 March 2022AccommodationRentAggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22£32,500£32,500
5 May 2021Office CostsPooled staffing servicesPolicy Research Unit (Conservative)£2,988£2,988
31 March 2022MP TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2021-22£1,755£1,755
31 March 2022Staff TravelMileage - carAggregated figure for travel during 2021-22£951£951
31 March 2022Office CostsWorking From Home AllowanceAggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22£942£942
18 January 2022Office CostsAdvertising and contact cardsAVIS NEWSPRINT£720£720
10 December 2021Office CostsAdvertising and contact cardsAVIS NEWSPRINT£720£720
16 November 2021Office CostsAdvertising and contact cardsAVIS NEWSPRINT£720£720
16 November 2021Office CostsAdvertising and contact cardsAVIS NEWSPRINT£720£720
28 September 2021Office CostsAdvertising and contact cardsAVIS NEWSPRINT£720£720
28 September 2021Office CostsAdvertising and contact cardsAVIS NEWSPRINT£720£720
22 July 2021Office CostsAdvertising and contact cardsAVIS NEWSPRINT£720£720
22 July 2021Office CostsAdvertising and contact cardsAVIS NEWSPRINT£720£720
7 May 2021Office CostsAdvertising and contact cardsAVIS NEWSPRINT£720£720

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 James Cartlidge 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 · James Cartlidge’s register of interests and votes · Sources