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, 2016-17
22 claims, £99,804 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. | 7 | £98,679 | 98.9% |
| Office costs | Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage. | 15 | £1,125 | 1.1% |
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.
| Year | Claims | Staffing | Office costs | Accommodation | Travel | Miscellaneous | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-11 | 18 | £72,390 | £3,497 | — | — | — | £75,887 |
| 2011-12 | 19 | £92,046 | £3,104 | — | — | £269 | £95,419 |
| 2012-13 | 45 | £96,883 | £1,992 | — | — | — | £98,875 |
| 2013-14 | 44 | £103,421 | £1,928 | — | £191 | — | £105,540 |
| 2014-15 | 41 | £119,260 | £2,081 | — | £81 | — | £121,423 |
| 2015-16 | 31 | £96,776 | £4,404 | — | £117 | — | £101,297 |
| 2016-17 | 22 | £98,679 | £1,125 | — | — | — | £99,804 |
| 2017-18 | 57 | £115,853 | £3,229 | £4,744 | £234 | — | £124,060 |
| 2018-19 | 74 | £114,454 | £2,992 | £11,800 | £280 | — | £129,526 |
| 2019-20 | 116 | £136,368 | £4,272 | £8,070 | £574 | — | £149,283 |
| 2020-21 | 68 | £167,555 | £5,202 | £3,693 | — | — | £176,450 |
| 2021-22 | 91 | £170,191 | £4,898 | £7,366 | £326 | — | £182,780 |
| 2022-23 | 95 | £184,337 | £4,534 | £8,922 | £158 | — | £197,951 |
| 2023-24 | 110 | £196,091 | £8,572 | £10,409 | £322 | — | £215,394 |
| 2024-25 | 132 | £224,586 | £8,067 | £11,319 | £852 | — | £244,824 |
| 2025-26 | 74 | £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, 2016-17
The cost types IPSA records inside each heading, largest first by what it paid.
Staffing
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll | 1 | £87,975 |
| Professional Services (Staff.) | 4 | £6,000 |
| Pooled Services: Direct | 2 | £4,704 |
Office costs
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Stationery Purchase | 12 | £797 |
| Website - Hosting | 1 | £300 |
| Other Equip Purchase | 1 | £21 |
| Other | 1 | £7 |
Largest claims, 2016-17
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 2017 | Staffing | Payroll | Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2016-17 year | £87,975 | £87,975 |
| 29 April 2016 | Staffing | Pooled Services: Direct | PRU | £2,704 | £2,704 |
| 1 April 2016 | Staffing | Pooled Services: Direct | ERG | £2,000 | £2,000 |
| 1 March 2017 | Staffing | Professional Services (Staff.) | RWCCA Jan-Mar 2017 | £1,500 | £1,500 |
| 1 December 2016 | Staffing | Professional Services (Staff.) | RWCCA Oct-Dec 2016 | £1,500 | £1,500 |
| 14 October 2016 | Staffing | Professional Services (Staff.) | RWCCA Jul-Sep 16 | £1,500 | £1,500 |
| 17 June 2016 | Staffing | Professional Services (Staff.) | RWCCA Apr-Jun 2016 | £1,500 | £1,500 |
| 1 October 2016 | Office Costs | Website - Hosting | Bluetree Website Hosting 16 | £300 | £300 |
| 31 May 2016 | Office Costs | Stationery Purchase | Banner | £108 | £108 |
| 7 February 2017 | Office Costs | Stationery Purchase | XMA Ltd | £104 | £104 |
| 20 December 2016 | Office Costs | Stationery Purchase | XMA Ltd | £104 | £104 |
| 20 June 2016 | Office Costs | Stationery Purchase | XMA Ltd | £104 | £104 |
| 24 August 2016 | Office Costs | Stationery Purchase | Langfords Business Cards 24.08 | £92 | £92 |
| 9 February 2017 | Office Costs | Stationery Purchase | Banner | £69 | £69 |
| 16 August 2016 | Office Costs | Stationery Purchase | Banner | £69 | £69 |
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