MPs’ business costs

Paul Maskey

IPSA paid £2,529,906 against 642 published rows for Paul Maskey between 2011-12 and 2025-26 as the member for Belfast West 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, 2017-18

44 claims, £178,712 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	£150,900	84.4%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	35	£23,306	13.0%
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.	6	£827	0.5%
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.	1	£3,679	2.1%

Every year in the register

Paul Maskey’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2011-12 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
2011-12	5	£80,269	£11,789	—	£196	£92,255
2012-13	9	£105,968	£16,358	—	£1,893	£124,218
2013-14	7	£105,883	£19,301	—	£2,519	£127,703
2014-15	3	£129,983	£12,000	—	£2,471	£144,454
2015-16	3	£136,753	£12,000	—	£285	£149,038
2016-17	9	£119,399	£3,408	—	£1,595	£124,402
2017-18	44	£150,900	£23,306	£827	£3,679	£178,712
2018-19	84	£147,759	£15,554	£2,381	£7,490	£173,184
2019-20	77	£153,489	£16,004	£1,741	£4,860	£176,094
2020-21	67	£179,206	£30,744	—	£374	£210,324
2021-22	41	£201,733	£26,823	£525	£1,274	£230,356
2022-23	65	£209,420	£27,380	£1,244	£3,845	£241,889
2023-24	126	£233,085	£27,830	£837	£4,697	£266,449
2024-25	55	£233,918	£31,579	£390	£2,243	£268,130
2025-26	47	—	£20,602	£2,097	—	£22,699

A year in which Paul Maskey 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, 2017-18

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£151,159
Budget Repayment (Staffing)	1	£-259

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Repairs	1	£7,678
Other Equip Purchase	8	£5,733
Const Office Rent	5	£4,228
IT/Other Equipment Hire	1	£1,920
Stationery Purchase	6	£1,183
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	8	£792

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Hotel London Area	6	£827

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£3,679

Largest claims, 2017-18

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	£151,159	£151,159
22 November 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Repairs	Officw costs	£7,678	£7,678
7 February 2018	Office Costs	Other Equip Purchase	Office costs claim	£3,780	£3,780
31 March 2018	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2017-18	£3,679	£3,679
1 March 2018	Office Costs	IT/Other Equipment Hire	Office costs	£1,920	£1,920
7 December 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,825	£1,825
19 March 2018	Office Costs	Other Equip Purchase	Office costs	£1,600	£1,600
23 February 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£608	£608
26 January 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£608	£608
21 December 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£608	£608
25 October 2017	Office Costs	Furniture Purchase	Office costs claim	£580	£580
6 November 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Office costs claim	£577	£577
1 February 2018	Office Costs	Other	Office Costs Claim	£431	£431
21 November 2017	Office Costs	Stationery Purchase	Banner	£403	£403
19 December 2017	Office Costs	Internet Access Installation	Officw costs	£389	£389

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 Paul Maskey 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 · Paul Maskey’s register of interests and votes · Sources