MPs’ business costs

Luke Pollard

IPSA paid £1,939,344 against 1,808 published rows for Luke Pollard between 2017-18 and 2025-26 as the member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport BC, then Plymouth Sutton and Devonport 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, 2017-18

160 claims, £156,598 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.	72	£112,848	72.1%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	56	£24,830	15.9%
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.	31	£12,318	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.	1	£6,602	4.2%

Every year in the register

Luke Pollard’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2017-18 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
2017-18	160	£112,848	£24,830	£12,318	£6,602	—	£156,598
2018-19	214	£153,315	£22,517	£18,564	£11,413	£40	£205,848
2019-20	204	£143,734	£18,361	£18,955	£9,288	—	£190,338
2020-21	202	£184,101	£23,948	£21,814	£3,817	—	£233,680
2021-22	213	£201,656	£25,174	£20,559	£6,875	£3,815	£258,079
2022-23	228	£214,444	£26,511	£21,866	£10,415	—	£273,236
2023-24	272	£227,754	£27,841	£24,388	£13,929	—	£293,912
2024-25	223	£240,307	£29,108	£25,053	£15,205	—	£309,672
2025-26	92	£1,429	£12,449	£4,102	—	—	£17,980

A year in which Luke Pollard 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, 2017-18

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£102,070
Pooled Services	1	£4,800
Professional Services (Staff.)	2	£2,900
Pooled Services: Direct	1	£2,800
Volunteer Agreed Arrang. Costs	67	£278

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Repairs	1	£13,355
Const Office Rent	6	£4,399
Furniture Purchase	3	£2,716
Stationery Purchase	15	£1,177
Legal Exp/Emp Practice Insur.	2	£1,096
Computer SW Purchase	5	£768

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	10	£11,640
Council Tax	5	£375
Gas	5	£147
Water	6	£82
Electricity	5	£74

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£6,602

Largest claims, 2017-18

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 2018	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2017-18 year	£102,070	£102,070
23 March 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Repairs	New Office Decoration/Fit Out	£13,355	£13,355
31 March 2018	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2017-18	£6,602	£6,602
14 March 2018	Staffing	Pooled Services	PRS	£4,800	£4,800
4 September 2017	Staffing	Pooled Services: Direct	PRS	£2,800	£2,800
31 July 2017	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Temporary Staff	£2,400	£2,400
28 March 2018	Office Costs	Furniture Purchase	Card March 2018	£1,201	£1,201
1 March 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Accomodation	£1,200	£1,200
1 February 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Bills	£1,200	£1,200
1 January 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Flat	£1,200	£1,200
1 December 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	MP London Accomodation	£1,200	£1,200
1 November 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Rent	£1,200	£1,200
2 October 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Rent - October 2017	£1,200	£1,200
1 September 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London flat - September 2017	£1,200	£1,200
1 August 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London flat - August 2017	£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 Luke Pollard 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 · Luke Pollard’s register of interests and votes · Sources