MPs’ business costs
Seema Malhotra
IPSA paid £2,709,790 against 2,124 published rows for Seema Malhotra between 2011-12 and 2025-26 as the member for Feltham and Heston 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, 2015-16
170 claims, £170,031 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. | 106 | £144,795 | 85.2% |
| Office costs | Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage. | 64 | £25,236 | 14.8% |
Every year in the register
Seema Malhotra’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2011-12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-12 | 4 | £16,673 | £615 | — | — | — | £17,288 |
| 2012-13 | 237 | £109,370 | £17,596 | £145 | £1,556 | — | £128,666 |
| 2013-14 | 169 | £142,281 | £18,023 | £298 | — | — | £160,602 |
| 2014-15 | 113 | £145,426 | £25,821 | £689 | — | £503 | £172,439 |
| 2015-16 | 170 | £144,795 | £25,236 | — | — | — | £170,031 |
| 2016-17 | 140 | £146,863 | £25,462 | £350 | — | — | £172,675 |
| 2017-18 | 135 | £161,114 | £26,475 | £241 | — | — | £187,829 |
| 2018-19 | 202 | £159,199 | £18,889 | £974 | — | £1,069 | £180,131 |
| 2019-20 | 158 | £170,466 | £24,094 | £536 | — | — | £195,097 |
| 2020-21 | 97 | £203,154 | £29,049 | — | — | — | £232,203 |
| 2021-22 | 105 | £218,187 | £37,794 | £339 | — | £2,993 | £259,314 |
| 2022-23 | 178 | £231,556 | £26,018 | £5,705 | — | £1,440 | £264,720 |
| 2023-24 | 187 | £259,214 | £34,935 | £3,294 | — | — | £297,443 |
| 2024-25 | 155 | £222,976 | £32,739 | £629 | — | — | £256,343 |
| 2025-26 | 74 | £4,119 | £10,889 | — | — | — | £15,009 |
A year in which Seema Malhotra 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, 2015-16
The cost types IPSA records inside each heading, largest first by what it paid.
Staffing
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll | 1 | £143,872 |
| Public Tr UND Volunteer | 43 | £287 |
| Food & Drink Volunteer | 52 | £269 |
| Public Tr RAIL Volunteer - RT | 2 | £262 |
| Public Tr RAIL Volunteer - SG | 1 | £90 |
| Public Tr BUS Volunteer | 7 | £15 |
Office costs
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Const Office Rent | 10 | £10,910 |
| Professional Services: Direct | 1 | £4,800 |
| Computer HW Purchase | 1 | £2,158 |
| Professional Services | 2 | £2,100 |
| Stationery Purchase | 29 | £2,027 |
| Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental | 7 | £1,255 |
Largest claims, 2015-16
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 2016 | Staffing | Payroll | Total payroll costs for the 2015-16 year | £143,872 | £143,872 |
| 30 June 2015 | Office Costs | Professional Services: Direct | PRS | £4,800 | £4,800 |
| 2 July 2015 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | 1st rent payment | £2,925 | £2,925 |
| 2 April 2015 | Office Costs | Computer HW Purchase | constituency office costs | £2,158 | £2,158 |
| 20 September 2015 | Office Costs | Professional Services | constituency resources | £1,800 | £1,800 |
| 8 February 2016 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £975 | £975 |
| 12 January 2016 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £975 | £975 |
| 11 December 2015 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £975 | £975 |
| 10 November 2015 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £975 | £975 |
| 8 October 2015 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £975 | £975 |
| 10 September 2015 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £975 | £975 |
| 11 August 2015 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £975 | £975 |
| 16 July 2015 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £975 | £975 |
| 9 August 2015 | Office Costs | Legal Exp/Emp Practice Insur. | EPL | £578 | £578 |
| 19 May 2015 | Office Costs | Software Purchase | phone;casework software | £500 | £500 |
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 Seema Malhotra 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 · Seema Malhotra’s register of interests and votes · Sources