MPs’ business costs

Maureen Burke

IPSA paid £177,505 against 154 published rows for Maureen Burke between 2024-25 and 2025-26 as the member for Glasgow North East 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, 2024-25 to 2025-26

154 claims, £177,505 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.2£105,57259.5%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.113£21,34512.0%
AccommodationThe 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.25£21,43812.1%
TravelJourneys 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.14£29,14916.4%

Every year in the register

Maureen Burke’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2024-25 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 costsAccommodationTravelTotal
2024-25117£105,572£12,759£18,908£29,149£166,388
2025-2637£8,586£2,531£11,117

A year in which Maureen Burke 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, 2024-25 to 2025-26

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£103,272
Pooled staffing services1£2,300

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent6£5,754
Software & applications5£3,719
Business rates2£3,257
Stationery & printing65£3,188
Equipment - purchase13£2,378
Mobile telephone - equipment purchase1£1,199

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent1£15,233
Hotel - London4£2,992
Council tax2£2,166
Utilities18£1,047

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Air travel2£20,339
Hotel - London2£7,734
Rail3£533
Subsistence1£205
Hotel - UK Not London1£177
Mileage - car1£72

Largest claims, 2024-25 to 2025-26

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 2025StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2024-25 year£103,272£103,272
31 March 2025MP TravelAir travelAggregated figure for travel during 2024-25£16,485£16,485
31 March 2025AccommodationRentAggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2024-25£15,233£15,233
31 March 2025MP TravelHotel - LondonAggregated figure for travel during 2024-25£3,945£3,945
31 March 2025Staff TravelAir travelAggregated figure for travel during 2024-25£3,855£3,855
31 March 2025Staff TravelHotel - LondonAggregated figure for travel during 2024-25£3,789£3,789
29 July 2025Office CostsBusiness ratesGCC FIN SERV ECOMM£2,590£2,590
7 February 2025StaffingPooled staffing servicesParliamentary Research Service (Labour)£2,300£2,300
12 December 2024Office CostsRent[***] - rent due for 09/12/2024 - 08/03/2025£2,048£2,048
19 May 2025AccommodationCouncil taxWWW.WESTMINSTER.GOV.UK£1,808£1,808
28 March 2025Office CostsEquipment - purchaseOther office equipment£1,679£1,679
12 November 2025Office CostsSoftware & applicationsELECTED TECHNOLOGIES£1,476£1,476
1 April 2025Office CostsRent£1,236£1,236
4 March 2025Office CostsRent£1,236£1,236
4 February 2025Office CostsRent£1,236£1,236

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 Maureen Burke 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 · Maureen Burke’s register of interests and votes · Sources