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, 2018-19

299 claims, £210,528 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.	107	£153,071	72.7%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	164	£24,695	11.7%
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	£19,728	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	£13,034	6.2%

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, 2018-19

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£140,430
Professional Services (Staff.)	12	£10,350
Public Tr RAIL Volunteer - RT	6	£1,723
Food & Drink Volunteer	83	£330
Public Tr RAIL Volunteer - SG	1	£223
Volunteer Agreed Arrang. Costs	4	£15

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	3	£5,184
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	17	£2,265
Website - Hosting	31	£2,237
IT/Other Equipment Hire	5	£2,021
Const Office Rent 3	1	£1,775
Const Office Rent 4	1	£1,775

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	13	£14,400
Council Tax	1	£2,170
Electricity	9	£2,086
Water	1	£640
Hotel NOT London Area	2	£227
Gas	1	£204

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£13,034

Largest claims, 2018-19

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 2019	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2018-19 year	£140,430	£140,430
31 March 2019	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2018-19	£13,034	£13,034
31 August 2018	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Research and support	£2,500	£2,500
1 April 2018	Accommodation	Council Tax	[*] [*] CTax 2018 - 2019	£2,170	£2,170
16 July 2018	Office Costs	Website - Hosting	Various Office Costs	£2,000	£2,000
8 March 2019	Office Costs	Const Office Rent 4	Constituency Office Rent	£1,775	£1,775
20 December 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent 3	Quarterly Rent	£1,775	£1,775
21 September 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Office Rent	£1,775	£1,775
19 June 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,775	£1,775
1 April 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,634	£1,634
1 April 2018	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Professional Services	£1,250	£1,250
20 February 2019	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,200	£1,200
17 January 2019	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,200	£1,200
16 December 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,200	£1,200
16 November 2018	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