MPs’ business costs

Liam Byrne

IPSA paid £3,213,954 against 4,414 published rows for Liam Byrne between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill BC, then Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North 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

372 claims, £189,335 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.	132	£139,051	73.4%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	218	£22,872	12.1%
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.	21	£17,831	9.4%
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.	1	£9,581	5.1%

Every year in the register

Liam Byrne’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	152	£93,877	£19,582	£17,382	£5,904	—	£136,745
2011-12	170	£114,362	£19,971	£19,618	£7,363	—	£161,314
2012-13	248	£135,297	£21,280	£17,716	£12,278	£665	£187,236
2013-14	286	£135,661	£21,893	£17,620	£10,790	—	£185,964
2014-15	327	£136,456	£22,493	£17,160	£9,182	—	£185,291
2015-16	372	£139,051	£22,872	£17,831	£9,581	—	£189,335
2016-17	327	£141,394	£22,554	£15,845	£14,241	—	£194,034
2017-18	387	£150,405	£23,845	£18,788	£8,648	—	£201,686
2018-19	299	£153,071	£24,695	£19,728	£13,034	—	£210,528
2019-20	351	£152,743	£28,021	£23,531	£12,436	—	£216,732
2020-21	226	£167,849	£24,796	£19,261	£2,183	—	£214,089
2021-22	273	£166,759	£29,453	£20,735	£8,653	—	£225,600
2022-23	312	£210,626	£26,137	£21,172	£9,554	—	£267,489
2023-24	304	£235,380	£32,298	£17,897	£9,290	—	£294,865
2024-25	238	£224,123	£32,946	£19,690	£8,405	—	£285,164
2025-26	142	£30,701	£20,504	£6,677	—	—	£57,882

A year in which Liam Byrne 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	£127,280
Professional Services (Staff.)	3	£10,500
Public Tr UND Volunteer	24	£581
Staff Training Costs	1	£420
Food & Drink Volunteer	103	£271

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	6	£6,325
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	23	£3,716
IT/Other Equipment Hire	8	£3,225
Stationery Purchase	24	£1,395
Postage Purchase	4	£1,128
Const Office Electricity	5	£1,074

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	15	£16,991
Hotel London Area	5	£676
Service Charges	1	£164

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£9,581

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	£127,280	£127,280
31 March 2016	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2015-16	£9,581	£9,581
31 March 2016	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Digital Democracy Hodge Hill	£8,400	£8,400
4 February 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,690	£1,690
4 January 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,690	£1,690
4 December 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,690	£1,690
4 August 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,690	£1,690
27 July 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,690	£1,690
8 July 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	rent payment	£1,690	£1,690
7 July 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,690	£1,690
6 July 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,690	£1,690
8 June 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	[***]	£1,690	£1,690
22 March 2016	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Additio Training from [***]	£1,680	£1,680
17 December 2015	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,500	£1,500
17 September 2015	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,500	£1,500

Claims refused and money repaid, 2015-16

4 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £53 repaid. A refusal is not a finding of wrongdoing — most are claims outside the scheme’s rules, or submitted without the evidence IPSA requires — and it is shown because leaving it out would show only the money that went out.

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 Liam Byrne 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 · Liam Byrne’s register of interests and votes · Sources