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, 2025-26

74 claims, £15,009 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.4£4,11927.4%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.70£10,88972.6%

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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsTravelStarting up and winding upMiscellaneousTotal
2011-124£16,673£615£17,288
2012-13237£109,370£17,596£145£1,556£128,666
2013-14169£142,281£18,023£298£160,602
2014-15113£145,426£25,821£689£503£172,439
2015-16170£144,795£25,236£170,031
2016-17140£146,863£25,462£350£172,675
2017-18135£161,114£26,475£241£187,829
2018-19202£159,199£18,889£974£1,069£180,131
2019-20158£170,466£24,094£536£195,097
2020-2197£203,154£29,049£232,203
2021-22105£218,187£37,794£339£2,993£259,314
2022-23178£231,556£26,018£5,705£1,440£264,720
2023-24187£259,214£34,935£3,294£297,443
2024-25155£222,976£32,739£629£256,343
2025-2674£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, 2025-26

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Training - staff2£3,049
Bought-in services2£1,070

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Stationery & printing22£2,768
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage8£1,780
Software & applications2£1,476
Utilities13£1,300
Training - staff1£1,188
Service charge & ground Rent11£718

Largest claims, 2025-26

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
23 February 2026StaffingTraining - staffProject Management Training for [***] [***]£1,525£1,525
23 February 2026StaffingTraining - staffProject Management Training for [***] [***]£1,525£1,525
10 December 2025Office CostsTraining - staffTraining for staff members [***][***][***]£1,188£1,188
8 August 2025Office CostsSoftware & applicationsELECTED TECHNOLOGIES£738£738
30 April 2025Office CostsSoftware & applicationsELECTED TECHNOLOGIES£738£738
28 February 2025StaffingBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£650£650
29 January 2026Office CostsLandline phone & internet - rental & usageLandline£553£553
28 March 2025StaffingBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£420£420
13 March 2026Office CostsInsurance - contentsOffice Contents Insurance£419£419
30 January 2026Office CostsVenue hire, meetings & surgeries£340£340
3 October 2025Office CostsLandline phone & internet - rental & usageLandline & internet package£336£336
30 January 2026Office CostsStationery & printingBanner February 2026£299£299
30 January 2026Office CostsStationery & printingBanner February 2026£299£299
30 January 2026Office CostsStationery & printingBanner February 2026£299£299
19 June 2025Office CostsLandline phone & internet - rental & usageLandline & internet package£256£256

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