MPs’ business costs

Dr Rupa Huq

IPSA paid £1,603,985 against 1,203 published rows for Dr Rupa Huq between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Ealing Central and Acton 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, 2018-19

79 claims, £128,584 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.

CategoryWhat it coversClaimsPaidShare
StaffingThe 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.51£124,00696.4%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.27£3,5532.8%
TravelJourneys 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£1,0250.8%

Every year in the register

Dr Rupa Huq’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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsTravelStarting up and winding upMiscellaneousTotal
2015-16169£85,165£8,836£150£990£95,141
2016-17178£109,649£8,510£282£4,514£122,955
2017-18103£124,895£3,463£493£24£128,874
2018-1979£124,006£3,553£1,025£128,584
2019-20134£139,983£2,728£315£143,026
2020-2165£158,173£14,266£92£172,531
2021-2273£145,668£18,390£274£164,333
2022-2390£181,945£16,224£345£198,513
2023-24165£166,436£37,132£244£912£204,725
2024-25107£199,370£35,098£177£234,645
2025-2640£1,932£8,726£10,658

A year in which Dr Rupa Huq 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, 2018-19

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£123,618
Public Tr UND Volunteer32£295
Food & Drink Volunteer18£93

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Stationery Purchase11£1,280
Computer SW Purchase1£500
Contact Cards1£450
Venue Hire Surgery/Meeting2£449
Postage Purchase3£300
Parliamentary Accountancy1£240

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Aggregated Travel Costs1£1,025

Largest claims, 2018-19

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.

DateCategoryCost typeDescriptionClaimedPaid
31 March 2019StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2018-19 year£123,618£123,618
31 March 2019TravelAggregated Travel CostsAggregated figure for travel during 2018-19£1,025£1,025
10 October 2018Office CostsStationery PurchaseBanner£515£515
18 April 2018Office CostsComputer SW PurchaseApril£500£500
5 November 2018Office CostsContact CardsNovember£450£450
7 September 2018Office CostsVenue Hire Surgery/MeetingSurgery Room Hire£349£349
27 November 2018Office CostsStationery PurchaseNovember£288£288
4 February 2019Office CostsParliamentary AccountancyFebruary£240£240
21 January 2019Office CostsStationery PurchaseBanner£205£205
18 December 2018Office CostsPostage PurchaseDecember£183£183
6 December 2018Office CostsPostage PurchaseDecember£116£116
12 May 2018Office CostsOther Equip PurchaseMay£112£112
9 January 2019Office CostsVenue Hire Surgery/MeetingDecember£100£100
23 April 2018Office CostsStationery PurchaseBanner£91£91
12 November 2018Office CostsStationery PurchaseBanner£50£50

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 Dr Rupa Huq 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 · Dr Rupa Huq’s register of interests and votes · Sources