MPs’ business costs

Sir Nicholas Dakin

IPSA paid £2,053,714 against 2,750 published rows for Sir Nicholas Dakin between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Scunthorpe 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 to 2025-26

2,750 claims, £2,053,714 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.	987	£1,412,205	68.8%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	1,317	£257,534	12.5%
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.	370	£216,089	10.5%
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.	33	£105,256	5.1%
Starting up and winding up	The one-off costs of opening an office on election and of closing one on leaving. These fall in the years around a general election and are absent from the rest.	34	£33,362	1.6%
Miscellaneous	Claims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.	9	£29,269	1.4%

Every year in the register

Sir Nicholas Dakin’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	Starting up and winding up	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	130	£84,153	£17,543	£15,334	£7,352	—	—	£124,382
2011-12	337	£107,414	£20,704	£21,305	£9,398	—	£90	£158,910
2012-13	404	£135,927	£21,449	£20,595	£12,427	—	—	£190,399
2013-14	219	£126,084	£21,496	£20,088	£10,430	—	—	£178,098
2014-15	195	£134,296	£20,133	£20,600	£9,665	—	—	£184,695
2015-16	185	£129,029	£23,348	£20,569	£8,065	—	£264	£181,276
2016-17	238	£141,266	£23,265	£20,610	£9,310	—	—	£194,451
2017-18	263	£150,078	£24,418	£20,818	£10,380	—	—	£205,694
2018-19	300	£150,871	£24,783	£21,614	£10,181	—	—	£207,449
2019-20	192	£104,708	£11,962	£18,033	£4,881	£33,362	£28,588	£201,534
2020-21	3	—	—	£-3,756	—	—	£327	£-3,428
2024-25	201	£147,978	£30,038	£17,191	£13,167	—	—	£208,373
2025-26	83	£400	£18,395	£3,087	—	—	—	£21,882

A year in which Sir Nicholas Dakin 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 to 2025-26

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	11	£1,380,675
Pooled Services: Direct	1	£4,800
Training - staff	15	£4,398
Pooled Services	1	£3,600
Pooled Staffing Services	3	£3,600
Pooled staffing services	1	£3,000

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	46	£58,817
Professional Services: Direct	6	£28,800
Stationery Purchase	166	£21,516
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	149	£15,900
Computer HW Purchase	35	£11,248
Stationery & printing	106	£10,876

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	115	£164,133
Rent	18	£27,210
Council Tax	50	£6,208
Ground Rent	10	£4,102
Council tax	11	£3,853
Electricity	81	£2,869

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	9	£87,208
Rail	6	£9,614
Mileage - car	8	£3,872
Hotel - London	2	£2,356
Parking	3	£1,269
Hotel - UK Not London	2	£924

Starting up and winding up

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£30,050
Rent	1	£984
Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs	2	£787
Rail	6	£402
Mileage - car	8	£261
Waste disposal, confidential waste & rubbish collection	5	£176

Miscellaneous

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Redundancy	1	£28,309
Removal Costs - Contingency	1	£264
Council tax	3	£243
Rent	1	£219
Moving Fees	1	£108
Contingency	1	£90

Largest claims, 2010-11 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.

Date	Category	Cost type	Description	Claimed	Paid
31 March 2018	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2017-18 year	£148,296	£148,296
31 March 2019	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2018-19 year	£145,163	£145,163
31 March 2025	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2024-25 year	£140,928	£140,928
31 March 2017	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2016-17 year	£140,278	£140,278
31 March 2015	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2014-15 year	£133,882	£133,882
31 March 2013	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2012-13 year	£128,946	£128,946
31 March 2016	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2015-16 year	£128,642	£128,642
31 March 2014	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2013-14 year	£125,328	£125,328
31 March 2020	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2019-20 year	£104,335	£104,335
31 March 2012	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2011-12 year	£102,043	£102,043
31 March 2011	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2010-11 year	£82,835	£82,835
31 March 2020	Winding Up	Payroll	Total Winding Up budget payroll costs for the 2019-20 year	£30,050	£30,050
31 March 2020	Miscellaneous	Redundancy	Staff redundancy payments	£28,309	£28,309
31 March 2013	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2012-13	£12,427	£12,427
31 March 2014	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2013-14	£10,430	£10,430

Claims refused and money repaid, 2010-11 to 2025-26

21 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £2,221 repaid. A refusal is not a finding of wrongdoing — most are claims outside the scheme’s rules, or submitted without the evidence IPSA requires — and it is shown because leaving it out would show only the money that went out.

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 Sir Nicholas Dakin 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 · Sir Nicholas Dakin’s register of interests and votes · Sources