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, 2017-18

387 claims, £201,686 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.	187	£150,405	74.6%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	171	£23,845	11.8%
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.	28	£18,788	9.3%
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	£8,648	4.3%

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, 2017-18

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£140,670
Professional Services (Staff.)	10	£8,273
Public Tr RAIL Volunteer - RT	55	£761
Food & Drink Volunteer	83	£472
Public Tr UND Volunteer	36	£213
Volunteer Agreed Arrang. Costs	2	£16

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	5	£7,003
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	19	£4,031
Stationery Purchase	28	£2,482
IT/Other Equipment Hire	6	£2,174
Computer SW Purchase	4	£996
Install/Maint Office Equip.	3	£994

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	12	£13,256
Electricity	10	£2,707
Council Tax	1	£1,903
Water	2	£556
Hotel NOT London Area	2	£240
Hotel London Area	1	£125

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£8,648

Largest claims, 2017-18

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 2018	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2017-18 year	£140,670	£140,670
31 March 2018	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2017-18	£8,648	£8,648
22 April 2017	Accommodation	Council Tax	[*] [] [**] June	£1,903	£1,903
18 December 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,775	£1,775
20 September 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,775	£1,775
19 June 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,775	£1,775
1 April 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,537	£1,537
15 January 2018	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Peoples Plan Site Support	£1,443	£1,443
1 March 2018	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	External Staff	£1,250	£1,250
8 January 2018	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Staffing	£1,250	£1,250
15 September 2017	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	[***]	£1,250	£1,250
19 February 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,200	£1,200
18 January 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,200	£1,200
18 December 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,200	£1,200
17 November 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,200	£1,200

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