Civometry

MPs’ business costs

Shabana Mahmood

IPSA paid £2,954,818 against 2,338 published rows for Shabana Mahmood between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Birmingham, Ladywood BC, then Birmingham Ladywood 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, 2010-11

73 claims, £105,649 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.6£80,75176.4%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.59£15,03314.2%
AccommodationThe cost of somewhere to stay for an MP whose constituency is far enough from Westminster that IPSA's rules allow it. An MP representing a London seat is not eligible on the same terms.7£8,0507.6%
TravelJourneys 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.1£1,8151.7%

Every year in the register

Shabana Mahmood’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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsAccommodationTravelMiscellaneousTotal
2010-1173£80,751£15,033£8,050£1,815—£105,649
2011-1228£101,420£14,053£10,944£133—£126,550
2012-13155£115,214£21,850£12,565£4,303£97£154,029
2013-14184£134,209£22,350£16,581£5,124£1,538£179,801
2014-15181£138,285£22,960£16,972£8,412—£186,630
2015-16176£133,857£23,122£16,787£9,469—£183,235
2016-17162£134,655£22,115£18,190£8,354—£183,315
2017-18181£133,312£21,837£19,274£4,123—£178,545
2018-19200£147,686£21,446£19,150£4,770—£193,052
2019-20153£148,654£23,503£19,282£5,833—£197,272
2020-21161£183,240£24,908£17,702£1,155—£227,005
2021-22128£170,229£25,518£17,520£4,655—£217,922
2022-23152£196,400£24,717£20,027£4,613—£245,756
2023-24172£206,997£28,930£23,912£4,944—£264,783
2024-25155£232,274£26,871£24,348£4,348—£287,841
2025-2677£3,846£15,834£3,753——£23,433

A year in which Shabana Mahmood 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, 2010-11

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£74,444
Professional Services (Staff.)5£6,307

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Const Office Rent11£6,600
Stationery Purchase17£3,089
Install/Maint Office Equip.1£2,169
Printer Purchase4£911
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental5£549
Const Office Hire of Premises8£464

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Accommodation Rent7£8,050

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Aggregated Travel Costs1£1,815

Largest claims, 2010-11

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
31 March 2011StaffingPayrollTotal payroll costs for the 2010-11 year£74,444£74,444
31 October 2010StaffingProfessional Services (Staff.)Gordon and Badley£2,944£2,944
31 March 2011Office CostsInstall/Maint Office Equip.Keypoint£2,169£2,169
31 March 2011TravelAggregated Travel CostsAggregated figure for travel during 2010-11£1,815£1,815
1 March 2011AccommodationAccommodation RentFlat rent£1,150£1,150
1 February 2011AccommodationAccommodation RentLondon Flat Rent£1,150£1,150
1 January 2011AccommodationAccommodation RentLondon Flat Rent£1,150£1,150
1 December 2010AccommodationAccommodation RentSeptember to Dec Rent£1,150£1,150
1 November 2010AccommodationAccommodation RentSeptember to Dec Rent£1,150£1,150
1 October 2010AccommodationAccommodation RentSeptember to Dec Rent£1,150£1,150
9 September 2010AccommodationAccommodation RentSeptember to Dec Rent£1,150£1,150
28 June 2010StaffingProfessional Services (Staff.)Invoice from [***]£1,102£1,102
31 January 2011StaffingProfessional Services (Staff.)G + B Invoices£769£769
31 December 2010StaffingProfessional Services (Staff.)G + B Invoices£746£746
30 November 2010StaffingProfessional Services (Staff.)G + B Invoices£746£746

Claims refused and money repaid, 2010-11

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £14 not paid and £0 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 Shabana Mahmood 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 · Shabana Mahmood’s register of interests and votes · Sources