MPs’ business costs

Liz Saville Roberts

IPSA paid £2,286,382 against 1,904 published rows for Liz Saville Roberts between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd CC. 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, 2024-25

230 claims, £326,846 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.

CategoryWhat it coversClaimsPaidShare
StaffingThe 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.11£249,79476.4%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.177£32,59610.0%
AccommodationThe 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.19£25,6487.8%
TravelJourneys 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.19£17,7335.4%
MiscellaneousClaims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.4£1,0760.3%

Every year in the register

Liz Saville Roberts’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2015-16 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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsAccommodationTravelStarting up and winding upMiscellaneousTotal
2015-16126£92,569£13,947£17,592£9,630£2,532£136,270
2016-17213£135,505£22,279£19,926£11,094£188,805
2017-18203£148,757£17,461£20,431£11,795£163£198,607
2018-19192£145,899£19,847£20,736£12,885£203£199,570
2019-20163£147,521£22,927£20,410£13,475£204,333
2020-21154£172,154£24,734£19,323£5,786£221,997
2021-22145£193,974£23,045£22,710£6,864£246,593
2022-23203£196,752£28,838£20,923£11,025£568£258,106
2023-24179£220,515£27,506£23,937£11,564£214£283,735
2024-25230£249,794£32,596£25,648£17,733£1,076£326,846
2025-2696£1,785£18,518£1,217£21,519

A year in which Liz Saville Roberts 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, 2024-25

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£238,866
Bought-in services7£9,433
Training - staff2£1,244
Volunteer - agreed arrangement costs1£251

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent1£6,603
Utilities16£4,977
Stationery & printing23£4,315
Advertising and contact cards21£2,598
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage25£2,564
Bought-in services6£2,422

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent1£21,000
Utilities17£2,979
Council tax1£1,669

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rail4£6,350
Mileage - car6£5,329
Hotel - London1£4,715
Parking4£1,110
Congestion charge & toll2£99
Subsistence1£71

Miscellaneous

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Removals4£1,076

Largest claims, 2024-25

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.

DateCategoryCost typeDescriptionClaimedPaid
31 March 2025StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2024-25 year£238,866£238,866
31 March 2025AccommodationRentAggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2024-25£21,000£21,000
31 March 2025Office CostsRentAggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2024-25£6,603£6,603
31 March 2025Staff TravelHotel - LondonAggregated figure for travel during 2024-25£4,715£4,715
31 March 2025MP TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2024-25£4,281£4,281
17 March 2025Office CostsStationery & printingPrinter toners£2,490£2,490
31 March 2025MP TravelMileage - carAggregated figure for travel during 2024-25£2,172£2,172
3 June 2024StaffingBought-in servicesAdministrative services£1,800£1,800
1 April 2025StaffingBought-in servicesAdministrative services£1,750£1,750
14 January 2025StaffingBought-in servicesComms & Media£1,750£1,750
3 September 2024StaffingBought-in servicesComms & Media£1,750£1,750
3 March 2025AccommodationCouncil taxCouncil Tax£1,669£1,669
31 March 2025MP TravelMileage - carAggregated figure for travel during 2024-25£1,523£1,523
28 March 2024StaffingBought-in servicesAdministrative services£1,313£1,313
25 March 2024Office CostsUtilitiesGas£1,286£1,286

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 Liz Saville Roberts 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 · Liz Saville Roberts’s register of interests and votes · Sources