MPs’ business costs
Sarah Olney
IPSA paid £1,452,363 against 1,531 published rows for Sarah Olney between 2016-17 and 2025-26 as the member for Richmond Park 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, 2017-18
19 claims, £48,675 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 | £23,014 | 47.3% |
| Office costs | Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage. | 7 | £291 | 0.6% |
| 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. | 9 | £25,066 | 51.5% |
| Miscellaneous | Claims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19. | 2 | £304 | 0.6% |
Every year in the register
Sarah Olney’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2016-17 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 | Starting up and winding up | Miscellaneous | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-17 | 4 | £21,133 | £982 | — | — | — | £22,116 |
| 2017-18 | 19 | £23,014 | £291 | — | £25,066 | £304 | £48,675 |
| 2019-20 | 71 | £30,068 | £8,156 | — | — | — | £38,224 |
| 2020-21 | 184 | £197,339 | £38,320 | £193 | — | £847 | £236,699 |
| 2021-22 | 148 | £210,950 | £32,047 | £504 | — | — | £243,500 |
| 2022-23 | 263 | £236,517 | £31,199 | £421 | — | — | £268,137 |
| 2023-24 | 393 | £250,885 | £33,122 | £426 | — | — | £284,433 |
| 2024-25 | 396 | £266,103 | £32,399 | £228 | — | — | £298,730 |
| 2025-26 | 53 | — | £11,850 | — | — | — | £11,850 |
A year in which Sarah Olney 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, 2017-18
The cost types IPSA records inside each heading, largest first by what it paid.
Staffing
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll | 1 | £23,014 |
Office costs
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Const Office Cleaning | 1 | £125 |
| Other | 2 | £111 |
| Internet Usage/Rental | 2 | £30 |
| Contact Cards | 1 | £13 |
| Computer HW Purchase | 1 | £12 |
Starting up and winding up
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll | 1 | £18,011 |
| Office Rent | 2 | £6,250 |
| Business Rates (Wind. Up) | 1 | £534 |
| Office Removals | 3 | £222 |
| Office Miscellaneous | 2 | £49 |
Miscellaneous
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Removal Costs - Contingency | 2 | £304 |
Largest claims, 2017-18
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 2018 | Staffing | Payroll | Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2017-18 year | £23,014 | £23,014 |
| 31 March 2018 | Winding Up | Payroll | Total Winding Up budget payroll costs for the 2017-18 year | £18,011 | £18,011 |
| 28 July 2017 | Winding Up | Office Rent | — | £4,000 | £4,000 |
| 11 July 2017 | Winding Up | Office Rent | — | £2,250 | £2,250 |
| 21 August 2017 | Winding Up | Business Rates (Wind. Up) | Business rates for const offic | £534 | £534 |
| 1 April 2017 | Miscellaneous Expenses | Removal Costs - Contingency | Removal costs - [***] | £240 | £240 |
| 6 July 2017 | Winding Up | Office Removals | Office clearance costs | £180 | £180 |
| 1 April 2017 | Office Costs | Const Office Cleaning | Move to 207 Parkway | £125 | £125 |
| 1 April 2017 | Office Costs | Other | Business cards/ decal | £82 | £82 |
| 1 April 2017 | Miscellaneous Expenses | Removal Costs - Contingency | Removal costs - [***] | £64 | £64 |
| 6 July 2017 | Winding Up | Office Miscellaneous | Office clearance costs | £45 | £45 |
| 6 July 2017 | Winding Up | Office Removals | Office clearance costs | £30 | £30 |
| 1 April 2017 | Office Costs | Other | Move to 207 Parkway | £28 | £28 |
| 1 April 2017 | Office Costs | Internet Usage/Rental | Move to 207 Parkway | £15 | £15 |
| 1 April 2017 | Office Costs | Internet Usage/Rental | Move to 207 Parkway | £15 | £15 |
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 Sarah Olney 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 · Sarah Olney’s register of interests and votes · Sources