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, 2025-26

117 claims, £57,841 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.	11	£28,391	49.1%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	74	£13,432	23.2%
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.	32	£16,018	27.7%

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, 2025-26

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Bought-in services	11	£28,391

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Utilities	28	£3,721
Business rates	1	£1,800
Cleaning services	12	£1,243
Software & applications	3	£1,004
Insurance - buildings	1	£958
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	10	£955

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Hotel - London	32	£16,018

Largest claims, 2025-26

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
7 October 2025	Staffing	Bought-in services	Administrative services	£5,500	£5,500
28 August 2025	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£5,250	£5,250
23 July 2025	Staffing	Bought-in services	Administrative services	£4,500	£4,500
12 December 2025	Staffing	Bought-in services	Administrative services	£3,450	£3,450
20 May 2025	Staffing	Bought-in services	Administrative services	£3,225	£3,225
2 February 2026	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£2,750	£2,750
1 April 2025	Office Costs	Business rates	Business rates	£1,800	£1,800
16 March 2026	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,760	£1,760
18 March 2026	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,013	£1,013
22 October 2025	Office Costs	Insurance - buildings	WRIGHTSURE INSURANCE S	£958	£958
20 June 2025	Accommodation	Hotel - London	[*][][**]	£880	£880
22 December 2025	Office Costs	Software & applications	ELECTED TECHNOLOGIES	£738	£738
30 June 2025	Accommodation	Hotel - London	[*][][**]	£675	£675
15 January 2026	Accommodation	Hotel - London	[*][][**]	£660	£660
25 November 2025	Accommodation	Hotel - London	[*][][**]	£660	£660

Claims refused and money repaid, 2025-26

2 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £1,070 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 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