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, 2020-21

89 claims, £220,719 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.	22	£172,710	78.2%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	52	£32,055	14.5%
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.	12	£15,600	7.1%
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.	3	£353	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, 2020-21

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£165,684
Bought-in services	11	£6,509
Volunteer - agreed arrangement costs	9	£481
Health & welfare - staff	1	£37

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	3	£19,000
Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs	4	£2,739
Equipment - purchase	7	£1,932
Working From Home Allowance	1	£1,617
Cleaning services	2	£1,614
Software & applications	11	£1,298

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	12	£15,600

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rail	2	£317
Other public transport	1	£36

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	£165,684	£165,684
26 September 2020	Office Costs	Rent	quarterly rent for constituency office	£7,000	£7,000
29 June 2020	Office Costs	Rent	quarterly rent for constituency office	£7,000	£7,000
8 March 2021	Office Costs	Rent	part of constituency office rent	£5,000	£5,000
1 September 2020	Office Costs	Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs	M G MITCHELL	£1,869	£1,869
4 February 2021	Staffing	Bought-in services	Office services	£1,750	£1,750
31 March 2021	Office Costs	Working From Home Allowance	Aggregated figure for 2020-21	£1,617	£1,617
8 October 2020	Office Costs	Cleaning services	constituency office cleaning	£1,470	£1,470
8 March 2021	Staffing	Bought-in services	Administrative services	£1,400	£1,400
16 March 2021	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,300	£1,300
16 February 2021	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,300	£1,300
19 January 2021	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,300	£1,300
15 December 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,300	£1,300
15 November 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,300	£1,300
18 October 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,300	£1,300

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