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, 2022-23

178 claims, £264,720 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.	57	£231,556	87.5%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	115	£26,018	9.8%
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.	5	£5,705	2.2%
Miscellaneous	Claims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.	1	£1,440	0.5%

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, 2022-23

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£217,801
Bought-in services	14	£8,770
Pooled staffing services	1	£4,200
Training - staff	1	£540
Volunteer - agreed arrangement costs	40	£246

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Bought-in services	18	£9,571
Rent	12	£8,520
Equipment - purchase	15	£2,179
Stationery & printing	17	£1,479
Utilities	19	£930
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	4	£763

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rail	4	£4,243
Hotel - London	1	£1,462

Miscellaneous

Cost type	Claims	Paid
IPSA RICS Valuation	1	£1,440

Largest claims, 2022-23

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 2023	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2022-23 year	£217,801	£217,801
18 May 2022	Staffing	Pooled staffing services	Parliamentary Research Service (Labour)	£4,200	£4,200
31 March 2023	Staff Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2022-23	£3,534	£3,534
31 March 2023	Staff Travel	Hotel - London	Aggregated figure for travel during 2022-23	£1,462	£1,462
6 September 2023	Miscellaneous	IPSA RICS Valuation	[***] RICS valuation [200008848-6]	£1,440	£1,440
4 July 2022	Staffing	Bought-in services	Administrative services	£1,200	£1,200
7 June 2022	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,200	£1,200
28 February 2023	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,080	£1,080
14 February 2023	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Printer, photocopier & scanner	£966	£966
20 January 2023	Staffing	Bought-in services	Administrative services	£840	£840
28 February 2023	Staffing	Bought-in services	Administrative services	£765	£765
19 April 2022	Office Costs	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£761	£761
28 February 2023	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£750	£750
31 January 2023	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£750	£750
4 December 2022	Office Costs	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£750	£750

Claims refused and money repaid, 2022-23

4 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £1,230 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 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