MPs’ business costs

Peter Kyle

IPSA paid £2,145,896 against 1,047 published rows for Peter Kyle between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Hove BC, then Hove and Portslade 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

80 claims, £161,855 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.	20	£136,814	84.5%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	56	£23,450	14.5%
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	£1,253	0.8%
Starting up and winding up	The one-off costs of opening an office on election and of closing one on leaving. These fall in the years around a general election and are absent from the rest.	3	£338	0.2%

Every year in the register

Peter Kyle’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	59	£106,853	£19,553	—	£1,298	£5,815	—	£133,520
2016-17	80	£136,814	£23,450	—	£1,253	£338	—	£161,855
2017-18	64	£134,071	£24,150	£8,486	£1,412	—	—	£168,119
2018-19	104	£142,035	£25,189	£15,043	£1,838	—	£1,425	£185,529
2019-20	133	£149,858	£26,243	£14,300	£2,143	—	—	£192,544
2020-21	89	£172,710	£32,055	£15,600	£353	—	—	£220,719
2021-22	120	£186,474	£29,536	£15,778	£4,869	—	—	£236,657
2022-23	172	£217,681	£27,870	£16,200	£2,302	—	—	£264,053
2023-24	98	£233,210	£30,583	£16,200	£1,528	—	£2,017	£283,537
2024-25	67	£202,745	£32,540	£23,755	£1,619	—	£1,440	£262,101
2025-26	61	£21,402	£14,694	—	—	—	£1,166	£37,262

A year in which Peter Kyle 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 type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£136,116
Public Tr UND Volunteer	5	£375
Food & Drink Volunteer	13	£308
Public Tr BUS Volunteer	1	£16

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Business Rates	2	£9,500
Const Office Rent	2	£8,063
Const Office Electricity	6	£1,772
Const Office Water	7	£775
Stationery Purchase	9	£747
Professional Services	5	£637

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£1,253

Starting up and winding up

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Training for MP Staff StartUp	1	£398
Office Furn Purch StartUp	1	£60
Website Design StartUp	1	£-120

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.

Date	Category	Cost type	Description	Claimed	Paid
31 March 2017	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2016-17 year	£136,116	£136,116
9 June 2016	Office Costs	Business Rates	Business Rates	£7,186	£7,186
1 April 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	[*] [*]	£5,063	£5,063
9 September 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£3,000	£3,000
1 April 2016	Office Costs	Business Rates	Const. office rates	£2,314	£2,314
31 March 2017	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2016-17	£1,253	£1,253
16 June 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Electricity	payment card	£869	£869
22 June 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Water	Office water rates	£600	£600
22 June 2016	Office Costs	Contents Insurance	Insurance Renewal	£500	£500
4 April 2016	Start Up	Training for MP Staff StartUp	payment card	£398	£398
22 June 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Repairs	Emergency office lighting	£398	£398
19 September 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Electricity	Payment Card	£293	£293
22 April 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Electricity	payment card	£288	£288
22 April 2016	Office Costs	Professional Services	payment card	£279	£279
22 June 2016	Office Costs	Professional Services	works certification	£225	£225

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 Kyle 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 Kyle’s register of interests and votes · Sources