MPs’ business costs

Mr Mark Francois

IPSA paid £2,143,419 against 1,037 published rows for Mr Mark Francois between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Rayleigh and Wickford 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, 2010-11

18 claims, £75,887 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.5£72,39095.4%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.13£3,4974.6%

Every year in the register

Mr Mark Francois’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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsAccommodationTravelMiscellaneousTotal
2010-1118£72,390£3,497£75,887
2011-1219£92,046£3,104£269£95,419
2012-1345£96,883£1,992£98,875
2013-1444£103,421£1,928£191£105,540
2014-1541£119,260£2,081£81£121,423
2015-1631£96,776£4,404£117£101,297
2016-1722£98,679£1,125£99,804
2017-1857£115,853£3,229£4,744£234£124,060
2018-1974£114,454£2,992£11,800£280£129,526
2019-20116£136,368£4,272£8,070£574£149,283
2020-2168£167,555£5,202£3,693£176,450
2021-2291£170,191£4,898£7,366£326£182,780
2022-2395£184,337£4,534£8,922£158£197,951
2023-24110£196,091£8,572£10,409£322£215,394
2024-25132£224,586£8,067£11,319£852£244,824
2025-2674£6,000£7,643£11,262£24,905

A year in which Mr Mark Francois 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, 2010-11

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£63,563
Pooled Staffing Services2£5,828
Professional Services (Staff.)2£3,000

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Professional Services2£1,535
Stationery Purchase10£1,362
Website - Hosting1£600

Largest claims, 2010-11

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 2011StaffingPayrollTotal payroll costs for the 2010-11 year£63,563£63,563
4 January 2011StaffingPooled Staffing ServicesPRU£3,878£3,878
22 February 2011StaffingPooled Staffing ServicesEuropean Research Group£1,950£1,950
16 March 2011StaffingProfessional Services (Staff.)[***] March 2011£1,500£1,500
21 January 2011StaffingProfessional Services (Staff.)RWCCA Jan 2011£1,500£1,500
23 November 2010Office CostsProfessional Services[***] Nov 2010£1,500£1,500
24 March 2011Office CostsWebsite - HostingPalace Computing March 2011£600£600
21 February 2011Office CostsStationery PurchaseBanner February 2011£577£577
5 November 2010Office CostsStationery PurchaseLangford Printers Ltd£251£251
26 October 2010Office CostsStationery PurchaseBanner Stationery£156£156
5 August 2010Office CostsStationery PurchaseBanner Stationry£105£105
5 August 2010Office CostsStationery PurchaseInvoice [***] Letterhead£94£94
10 March 2011Office CostsStationery PurchaseLangfords Printers Ltd Feb 11£72£72
10 February 2011Office CostsStationery PurchaseLangford Printers Dec 2010£71£71
28 July 2010Office CostsProfessional ServicesICO Renewal£35£35

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 Mr Mark Francois 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 · Mr Mark Francois’s register of interests and votes · Sources