MPs’ business costs

Pamela Nash

IPSA paid £969,131 against 906 published rows for Pamela Nash between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Airdrie and Shotts CC, then Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke 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, 2015-16

54 claims, £70,170 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.1£13,48919.2%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.14£2,5353.6%
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.2£1,8592.6%
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.1£1,5082.1%
Starting up and winding upThe 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.22£46,91766.9%
MiscellaneousClaims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.14£3,8625.5%

Every year in the register

Pamela Nash’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 costsAccommodationTravelStarting up and winding upMiscellaneousTotal
2010-1167£51,797£10,285£16,400£6,783£85,264
2011-12148£83,709£25,671£18,104£14,326£7,280£149,090
2012-13185£117,104£22,984£23,570£18,899£282£182,839
2013-14192£120,542£20,047£20,764£17,009£178,362
2014-15169£132,827£21,536£19,257£20,499£194,119
2015-1654£13,489£2,535£1,859£1,508£46,917£3,862£70,170
2024-2567£63,996£7,560£18,847£11,835£102,238
2025-2624£5,257£1,791£7,048

A year in which Pamela Nash 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, 2015-16

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£13,489

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Const Office Rent1£1,281
IT/Other Equipment Hire4£551
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental1£374
Const Office Electricity1£131
Newspapers/Journals3£73
Waste Disposal1£63

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Accommodation Rent2£1,859

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Aggregated Travel Costs1£1,508

Starting up and winding up

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£39,076
Office Rent1£5,016
Travel Costs9£941
Office Miscellaneous2£485
Office Postage/Stationery/Tel2£414
Home Removal Costs2£387

Miscellaneous

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Accom Rent (Wind. Up)2£3,033
Council Tax (Wind. Up)3£374
Accom Service Chgs (Wind. Up)1£130
Accom Electricity (Wind. Up)2£109
Accom Tel Usg/Rent (Wind. Up)1£88
Accom Gas (Wind. Up)4£86

Largest claims, 2015-16

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 2016Winding UpPayrollTotal payroll costs from the Winding Up budget for the 2015-16 year£39,076£39,076
31 March 2016StaffingPayrollTotal payroll costs for the 2015-16 year£13,489£13,489
28 May 2015Winding UpOffice RentConstituency Office Rent 2015£5,016£5,016
24 June 2015Miscellaneous ExpensesAccom Rent (Wind. Up)£1,517£1,517
1 May 2015Miscellaneous ExpensesAccom Rent (Wind. Up)£1,517£1,517
2 April 2015AccommodationAccommodation Rent£1,517£1,517
31 March 2016TravelAggregated Travel CostsAggregated figure for travel during 2015-16£1,508£1,508
1 April 2015Office CostsConst Office Rent£1,281£1,281
27 April 2015Office CostsConst Office Tel. Usage/RentalOffice Costs April-May 2015£374£374
10 June 2015Winding UpTravel CostsTravel June 2015£360£360
16 June 2015Winding UpHome Removal CostsRemoval Costs£355£355
1 April 2015AccommodationAccommodation Rent£342£342
15 June 2015Winding UpOffice GasOffice Winding Up Costs 1£341£341
15 June 2015Winding UpOffice MiscellaneousAccountancy Fees£300£300
21 May 2015Miscellaneous ExpensesCouncil Tax (Wind. Up)Accommodation 1£247£247

Claims refused and money repaid, 2015-16

4 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £312 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 Pamela Nash 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 · Pamela Nash’s register of interests and votes · Sources