MPs’ business costs

Matthew Pennycook

IPSA paid £1,770,016 against 412 published rows for Matthew Pennycook between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Greenwich and Woolwich 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, 2025-26

13 claims, £8,031 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.

CategoryWhat it coversClaimsPaidShare
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.13£8,031100.0%

Every year in the register

Matthew Pennycook’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 costsTravelStarting up and winding upMiscellaneousTotal
2015-1648£94,523£14,687£30£109,239
2016-1737£142,202£12,427£154,629
2017-1825£130,393£10,203£140,596
2018-1947£126,200£17,940£144,140
2019-2043£159,013£18,505£177,518
2020-2122£188,479£8,481£196,960
2021-2237£170,654£10,676£181,330
2022-2346£207,199£8,549£99£215,847
2023-2448£215,893£9,184£225,077
2024-2546£200,902£10,403£5,344£216,649
2025-2613£8,031£8,031

A year in which Matthew Pennycook 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, 2025-26

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

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Bought-in services1£4,200
Software & applications2£1,292
Venue hire, meetings & surgeries5£970
Stationery & printing1£675
Newspapers, journals, magazines2£426
Advertising and contact cards1£288

Largest claims, 2025-26

The 13 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
2 June 2025Office CostsBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£4,200£4,200
30 April 2025Office CostsSoftware & applicationsELECTED TECHNOLOGIES£738£738
13 November 2025Office CostsStationery & printingPrinting and delivery of MP coffee morning invitation letterhead£675£675
9 July 2025Office CostsSoftware & applicationsAnnual hosting and support fee for Caseworker - Pro-rated additional annual fee to May 2026 for Caseworker upgrade£554£554
7 February 2026Office CostsVenue hire, meetings & surgeries£335£335
4 February 2026Office CostsVenue hire, meetings & surgeries£335£335
5 January 2025Office CostsAdvertising and contact cardsDesign of MP coffee morning invitation letterhead, roll-up banner and MP logo£288£288
6 November 2025Office CostsNewspapers, journals, magazinesECONOMIST GBP - GBP£239£239
2 February 2026Office CostsNewspapers, journals, magazinesINSIDE HOUSING SUBSCRI£187£187
6 March 2026Office CostsTranslation services - other languagesHire of British Sign Language interpreter for constituency surgery focusing on welfare reform where deaf constituents were invited to attend.£180£180
4 February 2026Office CostsVenue hire, meetings & surgeries£100£100
31 January 2026Office CostsVenue hire, meetings & surgeries£100£100
4 October 2025Office CostsVenue hire, meetings & surgeries£100£100

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 Matthew Pennycook 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 · Matthew Pennycook’s register of interests and votes · Sources