MPs’ business costs

Peter Dowd

IPSA paid £2,185,775 against 2,309 published rows for Peter Dowd between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Bootle 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

223 claims, £193,103 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.	14	£145,688	75.4%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	171	£23,792	12.3%
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.	37	£15,000	7.8%
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	£8,623	4.5%

Every year in the register

Peter Dowd’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2015-16 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
2015-16	141	£123,571	£21,701	£10,061	£11,270	£6,000	—	£172,602
2016-17	179	£146,755	£23,397	£14,068	£16,865	—	—	£201,085
2017-18	223	£145,688	£23,792	£15,000	£8,623	—	—	£193,103
2018-19	220	£148,688	£23,893	£14,200	£14,990	—	£2,850	£204,621
2019-20	175	£153,779	£23,072	£7,613	£13,861	—	—	£198,325
2020-21	226	£170,162	£25,611	£1,145	£1,378	—	—	£198,295
2021-22	259	£192,888	£28,495	£4,235	£9,477	—	—	£235,094
2022-23	271	£169,912	£27,943	£9,791	£8,386	—	£890	£216,922
2023-24	282	£207,918	£33,389	£13,227	£9,450	—	—	£263,983
2024-25	216	£181,974	£30,918	£15,623	£14,211	—	£1,176	£243,902
2025-26	117	£28,391	£13,432	£16,018	—	—	—	£57,841

A year in which Peter Dowd 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	£127,594
Professional Services (Staff.)	10	£13,100
Pooled Services	1	£4,800
Hotel NOT London Area Voluntee	1	£110
Public Tr RAIL Volunteer - RT	1	£84

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	12	£10,000
Stationery Purchase	17	£3,495
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	22	£2,318
Computer HW Purchase	2	£1,566
Const Office Electricity	11	£1,138
Const Office Cleaning	24	£930

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Hotel London Area	37	£15,000

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£8,623

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	£127,594	£127,594
31 March 2018	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2017-18	£8,623	£8,623
6 March 2018	Staffing	Pooled Services	PRS Subscription	£4,800	£4,800
28 February 2018	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Support Service Feb 2018	£3,500	£3,500
16 March 2018	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Bootle Constituency Community	£2,500	£2,500
9 November 2017	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Legal Advice	£1,750	£1,750
28 February 2018	Office Costs	Computer HW Purchase	IT Equipment	£1,249	£1,249
9 November 2017	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Legal Advice	£1,050	£1,050
26 March 2018	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Data Protection Audit	£1,000	£1,000
13 March 2018	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Understanding Youth Issues	£1,000	£1,000
18 April 2017	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Data Protection	£900	£900
23 February 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£833	£833
26 January 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£833	£833
21 December 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£833	£833
24 November 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£833	£833

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 Peter Dowd 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 · Peter Dowd’s register of interests and votes · Sources