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, 2023-24

157 claims, £199,491 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.	19	£143,062	71.7%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	98	£15,657	7.8%
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.	27	£36,767	18.4%
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.	13	£4,004	2.0%

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.

Year	Claims	Staffing	Office costs	Accommodation	Travel	Starting up and winding up	Total
2015-16	150	£83,093	£10,812	£9,713	£4,153	£4,280	£112,051
2016-17	165	£126,241	£14,100	£12,610	£5,188	£1,096	£159,235
2017-18	117	£110,853	£16,608	£12,090	£4,840	—	£144,391
2018-19	125	£133,124	£18,874	£32,392	£6,226	—	£190,616
2019-20	144	£137,199	£18,421	£32,874	£6,283	—	£194,777
2020-21	81	£148,885	£16,801	£31,346	£3,001	—	£200,032
2021-22	107	£157,238	£18,484	£34,370	£3,966	—	£214,058
2022-23	112	£152,846	£9,446	£31,818	£5,308	—	£199,418
2023-24	157	£143,062	£15,657	£36,767	£4,004	—	£199,491
2024-25	145	£223,999	£14,889	£36,599	£5,803	—	£281,289
2025-26	35	—	£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, 2023-24

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£142,598
Volunteer - agreed arrangement costs	18	£464

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Stationery & printing	56	£4,310
Advertising and contact cards	7	£3,795
Pooled staffing services	1	£3,188
Equipment - purchase	2	£2,334
Software & applications	1	£690
Newspapers, journals, magazines	16	£585

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	12	£33,800
Council tax	2	£1,522
Utilities	12	£1,013
Cleaning services	1	£432

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rail	2	£1,950
Mileage - car	5	£1,862
Congestion charge & toll	1	£75
Hotel - UK Not London	1	£59
Railcard	1	£30
Parking	2	£20

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.

Date	Category	Cost type	Description	Claimed	Paid
31 March 2024	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2023-24 year	£142,598	£142,598
25 April 2023	Office Costs	Pooled staffing services	Policy Research Unit (Conservative)	£3,188	£3,188
5 March 2024	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,817	£2,817
6 February 2024	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,817	£2,817
5 January 2024	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,817	£2,817
5 December 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,817	£2,817
7 November 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,817	£2,817
3 October 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,817	£2,817
5 September 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,817	£2,817
3 August 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,817	£2,817
4 July 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,817	£2,817
7 June 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,817	£2,817
4 May 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,817	£2,817
29 March 2023	Accommodation	Rent	Rent payment - March 23 - James Cartlidge [***] [200009918-0]	£2,817	£2,817
16 March 2023	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£2,327	£2,327

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