MPs’ business costs

Sir Roger Gale

IPSA paid £2,678,238 against 2,113 published rows for Sir Roger Gale between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for North Thanet CC, then Herne Bay and Sandwich CC. 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

128 claims, £168,169 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.	1	£135,651	80.7%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	111	£22,149	13.2%
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.	15	£4,768	2.8%
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	£5,601	3.3%

Every year in the register

Sir Roger Gale’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2010-11 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	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	121	£85,056	£20,276	£4,478	£4,343	—	£114,154
2011-12	160	£108,318	£20,969	£5,074	£5,629	£66	£140,057
2012-13	152	£116,580	£22,356	£4,821	£5,408	—	£149,166
2013-14	117	£123,800	£18,402	£5,327	£5,787	—	£153,317
2014-15	127	£123,622	£20,364	£4,882	£5,551	—	£154,419
2015-16	129	£127,260	£20,614	£5,740	£5,195	—	£158,809
2016-17	128	£135,651	£22,149	£4,768	£5,601	—	£168,169
2017-18	126	£138,607	£18,419	£8,164	£4,386	—	£169,576
2018-19	150	£149,243	£23,799	£7,703	£5,593	—	£186,338
2019-20	151	£162,287	£22,454	£7,981	£5,400	—	£198,122
2020-21	127	£174,107	£24,712	£7,309	£15	—	£206,142
2021-22	132	£155,923	£23,921	£7,737	£3,939	—	£191,520
2022-23	128	£161,807	£24,923	£7,928	£6,324	—	£200,983
2023-24	144	£187,067	£24,817	£8,074	£7,076	—	£227,034
2024-25	137	£205,549	£22,931	£7,848	£7,228	—	£243,556
2025-26	84	—	£16,043	£835	—	—	£16,878

A year in which Sir Roger Gale 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	£135,651

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	3	£8,227
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	47	£4,293
Computer HW Purchase	5	£2,337
Install/Maint Office Equip.	18	£2,022
Stationery Purchase	10	£1,057
Const Office Electricity	4	£685

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	12	£4,496
Gas	3	£273

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£5,601

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	£135,651	£135,651
31 March 2017	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2016-17	£5,601	£5,601
26 July 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£3,500	£3,500
3 January 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£2,810	£2,810
6 May 2016	Office Costs	Computer HW Purchase	Purchase of Dell IT Equipment	£2,248	£2,248
1 April 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	[*] [] [**]	£1,918	£1,918
1 March 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Monthly London Rent	£600	£600
20 May 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Buildings Insur.	Constituency Office Utilities	£527	£527
11 July 2016	Office Costs	Tel/Mobile Purchase	Replacement Mobile Phone	£419	£419
27 June 2016	Office Costs	Legal Exp/Emp Practice Insur.	Employers Liability Insurance	£405	£405
21 December 2016	Office Costs	Other	Security	£370	£370
1 February 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Accom Rent	£354	£354
1 January 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Monthly Accom Rent London	£354	£354
1 December 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Accommodation rent	£354	£354
1 November 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Monthly London Accom Rent	£354	£354

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 Sir Roger Gale 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 · Sir Roger Gale’s register of interests and votes · Sources