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, 2020-21

118 claims, £180,402 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.	2	£149,006	82.6%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	73	£18,450	10.2%
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.	41	£10,703	5.9%
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.	2	£2,244	1.2%

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.

Year	Claims	Staffing	Office costs	Accommodation	Travel	Total
2010-11	112	£73,975	£17,440	£7,821	£5,325	£104,562
2011-12	146	£96,001	£21,345	£8,906	£5,963	£132,214
2012-13	164	£111,424	£21,780	£9,203	£6,180	£148,588
2013-14	203	£102,864	£22,040	£9,635	£7,185	£141,724
2014-15	144	£112,815	£20,844	£9,679	£6,291	£149,628
2015-16	151	£132,079	£20,111	£9,504	£5,715	£167,410
2016-17	124	£127,153	£15,454	£9,703	£5,970	£158,281
2017-18	115	£140,407	£21,510	£9,975	£4,577	£176,468
2018-19	117	£145,209	£19,456	£9,927	£5,876	£180,469
2019-20	128	£152,025	£15,809	£10,305	£4,378	£182,516
2020-21	118	£149,006	£18,450	£10,703	£2,244	£180,402
2021-22	100	£151,607	£14,075	£10,673	£5,198	£181,553
2022-23	146	£168,401	£19,103	£11,002	£4,052	£202,558
2023-24	129	£192,430	£18,190	£11,384	£4,172	£226,177
2024-25	110	£196,993	£16,714	£13,219	£2,434	£229,359
2025-26	44	—	£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, 2020-21

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£148,881
Bought-in services	1	£125

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	11	£7,700
Stationery & printing	26	£2,879
Landline phone & internet - installation & equipment purchase	4	£1,718
Working From Home Allowance	1	£1,428
Equipment - purchase	5	£1,344
Newspapers, journals, magazines	6	£886

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	12	£8,400
Council tax	12	£1,267
Utilities	5	£700
Landline phone & internet - installation & equipment purchase	9	£233
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	3	£103

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Mileage - car	2	£2,244

Largest claims, 2020-21

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 2021	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2020-21 year	£148,881	£148,881
31 March 2021	MP Travel	Mileage - car	Aggregated figure for travel during 2020-21	£2,178	£2,178
31 March 2021	Office Costs	Working From Home Allowance	Aggregated figure for 2020-21	£1,428	£1,428
3 July 2020	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Office furniture	£919	£919
30 March 2021	Office Costs	Rent	—	£700	£700
30 March 2021	Office Costs	Rent	—	£700	£700
30 March 2021	Office Costs	Rent	—	£700	£700
3 March 2021	Accommodation	Rent	Rent	£700	£700
2 February 2021	Accommodation	Rent	Rent	£700	£700
1 January 2021	Accommodation	Rent	Rent	£700	£700
1 December 2020	Office Costs	Rent	—	£700	£700
1 December 2020	Accommodation	Rent	Rent	£700	£700
3 November 2020	Accommodation	Rent	Rent	£700	£700
1 November 2020	Office Costs	Rent	—	£700	£700
4 October 2020	Office Costs	Rent	—	£700	£700

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