MPs’ business costs

Pat McFadden

IPSA paid £2,571,114 against 2,051 published rows for Pat McFadden between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Wolverhampton South 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, 2016-17

124 claims, £158,281 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£127,15380.3%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.77£15,4549.8%
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.45£9,7036.1%
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.1£5,9703.8%

Every year in the register

Pat McFadden’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 costsAccommodationTravelTotal
2010-11112£73,975£17,440£7,821£5,325£104,562
2011-12146£96,001£21,345£8,906£5,963£132,214
2012-13164£111,424£21,780£9,203£6,180£148,588
2013-14203£102,864£22,040£9,635£7,185£141,724
2014-15144£112,815£20,844£9,679£6,291£149,628
2015-16151£132,079£20,111£9,504£5,715£167,410
2016-17124£127,153£15,454£9,703£5,970£158,281
2017-18115£140,407£21,510£9,975£4,577£176,468
2018-19117£145,209£19,456£9,927£5,876£180,469
2019-20128£152,025£15,809£10,305£4,378£182,516
2020-21118£149,006£18,450£10,703£2,244£180,402
2021-22100£151,607£14,075£10,673£5,198£181,553
2022-23146£168,401£19,103£11,002£4,052£202,558
2023-24129£192,430£18,190£11,384£4,172£226,177
2024-25110£196,993£16,714£13,219£2,434£229,359
2025-2644£7,319£1,884£9,203

A year in which Pat McFadden 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 typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£127,153

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Stationery Purchase20£5,315
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental16£2,094
Computer HW Purchase1£1,747
Furniture Purchase3£1,701
Const Office Cleaning4£1,040
Newspapers/Journals5£768

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Accommodation Rent12£7,575
Council Tax12£1,061
Gas4£497
Telephone Usage/Rental12£256
Electricity2£167
Water3£147

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Aggregated Travel Costs1£5,970

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.

DateCategoryCost typeDescriptionClaimedPaid
31 March 2017StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2016-17 year£127,153£127,153
31 March 2017TravelAggregated Travel CostsAggregated figure for travel during 2016-17£5,970£5,970
21 February 2017Office CostsComputer HW PurchaseComputer HW Purchase£1,747£1,747
13 February 2017Office CostsFurniture PurchaseFurniture Purchase£1,026£1,026
16 June 2016Office CostsContact CardsContact cards£665£665
1 March 2017AccommodationAccommodation Rentrent£650£650
1 February 2017AccommodationAccommodation Rentrent£650£650
1 January 2017AccommodationAccommodation Rentrent£650£650
1 December 2016AccommodationAccommodation RentRent£625£625
1 November 2016AccommodationAccommodation RentRent£625£625
1 October 2016AccommodationAccommodation RentRent£625£625
1 September 2016AccommodationAccommodation RentRent£625£625
1 August 2016AccommodationAccommodation Rentrent£625£625
1 July 2016AccommodationAccommodation Rentrent July 2016£625£625
1 June 2016AccommodationAccommodation Rentrent£625£625

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 Pat McFadden 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 · Pat McFadden’s register of interests and votes · Sources