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, 2025-26

142 claims, £57,882 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.	20	£30,701	53.0%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	110	£20,504	35.4%
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.	12	£6,677	11.5%

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, 2025-26

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Bought-in services	20	£30,701

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Stationery & printing	26	£4,675
Equipment - hire	16	£4,119
Utilities	20	£3,581
Software & applications	9	£2,590
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	4	£1,467
Insurance - buildings	2	£850

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Council tax	3	£4,098
Utilities	9	£2,580

Largest claims, 2025-26

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
27 March 2026	Staffing	Bought-in services	Administrative services	£3,083	£3,083
25 February 2026	Staffing	Bought-in services	Administrative services	£3,083	£3,083
26 January 2026	Staffing	Bought-in services	Administrative services	£3,083	£3,083
1 April 2025	Accommodation	Council tax	Council Tax for constituency home	£2,907	£2,907
16 December 2025	Staffing	Bought-in services	Administrative services	£2,750	£2,750
28 November 2025	Staffing	Bought-in services	Administrative services	£2,750	£2,750
30 November 2025	Staffing	Bought-in services	Comms & Media	£2,363	£2,363
29 September 2025	Staffing	Bought-in services	Comms & Media	£2,340	£2,340
21 October 2025	Staffing	Bought-in services	Comms & Media	£2,288	£2,288
16 December 2025	Staffing	Bought-in services	Comms & Media	£2,250	£2,250
27 February 2026	Staffing	Bought-in services	Administrative services	£2,100	£2,100
15 February 2026	Staffing	Bought-in services	Comms & Media	£1,080	£1,080
16 September 2025	Office Costs	Utilities	Water	£1,074	£1,074
1 July 2025	Office Costs	Software & applications	Caseworker	£738	£738
1 October 2025	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£620	£620

Claims refused and money repaid, 2025-26

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £413 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