MPs’ business costs

Rushanara Ali

IPSA paid £3,034,831 against 1,737 published rows for Rushanara Ali between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Bethnal Green and Bow BC, then Bethnal Green and Stepney 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, 2021-22

76 claims, £246,134 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.	2	£216,541	88.0%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	72	£29,343	11.9%
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.	2	£249	0.1%

Every year in the register

Rushanara Ali’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	Travel	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	39	£87,391	£13,403	—	—	£100,795
2011-12	369	£116,249	£23,389	—	—	£139,637
2012-13	228	£152,230	£24,315	£240	—	£176,785
2013-14	165	£143,117	£16,352	—	—	£159,468
2014-15	81	£145,089	£24,822	—	—	£169,911
2015-16	62	£154,743	£25,805	—	—	£180,548
2016-17	75	£151,157	£21,349	—	—	£172,507
2017-18	67	£160,561	£23,815	—	—	£184,376
2018-19	73	£162,592	£23,748	—	—	£186,340
2019-20	77	£164,760	£26,497	—	£3,619	£194,876
2020-21	120	£205,778	£40,968	—	—	£246,746
2021-22	76	£216,541	£29,343	£249	—	£246,134
2022-23	83	£233,442	£28,272	£403	—	£262,118
2023-24	106	£247,465	£30,781	£380	—	£278,626
2024-25	82	£268,550	£33,434	—	£23,466	£325,450
2025-26	34	—	£10,514	—	—	£10,514

A year in which Rushanara Ali 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, 2021-22

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£214,381
Bought-in services	1	£2,160

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	1	£16,494
Pooled staffing services	1	£4,200
Working From Home Allowance	1	£1,547
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	12	£1,475
Cleaning services	12	£1,310
Equipment - purchase	10	£1,116

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rail	2	£249

Largest claims, 2021-22

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 2022	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2021-22 year	£214,381	£214,381
31 March 2022	Office Costs	Rent	Aggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22	£16,494	£16,494
27 April 2021	Office Costs	Pooled staffing services	Parliamentary Research Service (Labour)	£4,200	£4,200
13 January 2022	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£2,160	£2,160
31 March 2022	Office Costs	Working From Home Allowance	Aggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22	£1,547	£1,547
5 January 2022	Office Costs	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,080	£1,080
18 January 2022	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Office furniture	£729	£729
14 May 2021	Office Costs	Software & applications	ELECTED TECHNOLOGIES	£600	£600
21 January 2022	Office Costs	Stationery & printing	WWW.BANNERUK.COM	£438	£438
1 December 2021	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£238	£238
31 March 2022	Staff Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2021-22	£187	£187
9 February 2022	Office Costs	Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	Internet	£123	£123
10 January 2022	Office Costs	Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	Internet	£123	£123
9 December 2021	Office Costs	Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	Internet	£123	£123
16 November 2021	Office Costs	Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	Landline & internet package	£123	£123

Claims refused and money repaid, 2021-22

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £30 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 Rushanara Ali 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 · Rushanara Ali’s register of interests and votes · Sources