MPs’ business costs

Louise Haigh

IPSA paid £2,028,439 against 1,505 published rows for Louise Haigh between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Sheffield, Heeley BC, then Sheffield Heeley 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, 2021-22

122 claims, £198,589 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.	4	£150,473	75.8%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	101	£25,578	12.9%
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.	8	£16,823	8.5%
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.	9	£5,716	2.9%

Every year in the register

Louise Haigh’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.

Year	Claims	Staffing	Office costs	Accommodation	Travel	Starting up and winding up	Miscellaneous	Total
2015-16	118	£106,589	£10,683	£12,940	£2,937	£5,146	£108	£138,403
2016-17	147	£138,927	£22,328	£17,622	£5,377	—	—	£184,254
2017-18	141	£150,031	£22,432	£16,704	£2,866	—	—	£192,033
2018-19	147	£152,497	£19,485	£16,914	£6,653	—	—	£195,549
2019-20	135	£149,923	£15,671	£14,692	£7,698	—	—	£187,985
2020-21	113	£156,068	£23,952	£16,927	£3,115	—	—	£200,062
2021-22	122	£150,473	£25,578	£16,823	£5,716	—	—	£198,589
2022-23	182	£167,736	£26,049	£17,769	£6,066	—	—	£217,621
2023-24	180	£204,948	£26,971	£23,881	£5,384	—	—	£261,184
2024-25	150	£178,314	£21,078	£23,050	£3,743	—	—	£226,185
2025-26	70	—	£23,848	£2,727	—	—	—	£26,576

A year in which Louise Haigh 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, 2021-22

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£147,123
Bought-in services	1	£2,800
Training - staff	2	£550

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	12	£9,144
Equipment - purchase	3	£2,994
Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs	3	£2,916
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	11	£2,097
Utilities	18	£1,735
Working From Home Allowance	1	£1,567

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	1	£15,174
Council tax	1	£1,061
Utilities	6	£587

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rail	4	£4,562
Mileage - car	2	£648
Hotel - UK Not London	2	£259
Air travel	1	£247

Largest claims, 2021-22

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 2022	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2021-22 year	£147,123	£147,123
31 March 2022	Accommodation	Rent	Aggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22	£15,174	£15,174
31 March 2022	MP Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2021-22	£3,743	£3,743
9 April 2021	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£2,800	£2,800
31 August 2021	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Printer, photocopier & scanner	£1,800	£1,800
31 March 2022	Office Costs	Working From Home Allowance	Aggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22	£1,567	£1,567
14 October 2021	Office Costs	Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs	SUMUP IMPERIAL SIGNS	£1,188	£1,188
10 September 2021	Office Costs	Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs	new signage for outside office	£1,188	£1,188
2 November 2021	Staffing	Training - staff	EB 2-DAY MHFA TRAININ	£1,170	£1,170
9 April 2021	Accommodation	Council tax	LAMBETH INTERNET PAYM	£1,061	£1,061
9 December 2021	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£978	£978
15 March 2022	Office Costs	Rent	—	£762	£762
15 February 2022	Office Costs	Rent	—	£762	£762
18 January 2022	Office Costs	Rent	—	£762	£762
16 December 2021	Office Costs	Rent	—	£762	£762

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 Louise Haigh 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 · Louise Haigh’s register of interests and votes · Sources