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, 2022-23

312 claims, £267,489 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.	23	£210,626	78.7%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	241	£26,137	9.8%
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.	25	£21,172	7.9%
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.	23	£9,554	3.6%

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, 2022-23

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£179,364
Bought-in services	19	£30,169
Training - staff	3	£1,094

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	4	£7,100
Utilities	23	£3,589
Equipment - purchase	15	£2,337
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	9	£2,169
Stationery & printing	41	£1,985
Software & applications	30	£1,160

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	12	£14,400
Utilities	12	£4,019
Council tax	1	£2,753

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rail	6	£3,864
Taxi	5	£1,642
Mileage - car	3	£1,461
Air travel	1	£918
Other public transport	2	£864
Hotel - European	1	£510

Largest claims, 2022-23

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 2023	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2022-23 year	£179,364	£179,364
30 March 2022	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£5,400	£5,400
15 January 2023	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£4,500	£4,500
31 December 2022	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£4,500	£4,500
31 March 2023	MP Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2022-23	£3,288	£3,288
6 March 2023	Accommodation	Council tax	Council Tax for 2023	£2,753	£2,753
28 January 2021	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£2,000	£2,000
28 March 2023	Office Costs	Rent	—	£1,775	£1,775
29 December 2022	Office Costs	Rent	—	£1,775	£1,775
20 September 2022	Office Costs	Rent	—	£1,775	£1,775
21 June 2022	Office Costs	Rent	—	£1,775	£1,775
23 February 2023	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,500	£1,500
22 February 2023	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,440	£1,440
25 January 2023	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,440	£1,440
3 October 2022	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,305	£1,305

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