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, 2015-16

176 claims, £183,235 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.	3	£133,857	73.1%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	131	£23,122	12.6%
Accommodation	The 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.	41	£16,787	9.2%
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.	1	£9,469	5.2%

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.

Year	Claims	Staffing	Office costs	Accommodation	Travel	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	73	£80,751	£15,033	£8,050	£1,815	—	£105,649
2011-12	28	£101,420	£14,053	£10,944	£133	—	£126,550
2012-13	155	£115,214	£21,850	£12,565	£4,303	£97	£154,029
2013-14	184	£134,209	£22,350	£16,581	£5,124	£1,538	£179,801
2014-15	181	£138,285	£22,960	£16,972	£8,412	—	£186,630
2015-16	176	£133,857	£23,122	£16,787	£9,469	—	£183,235
2016-17	162	£134,655	£22,115	£18,190	£8,354	—	£183,315
2017-18	181	£133,312	£21,837	£19,274	£4,123	—	£178,545
2018-19	200	£147,686	£21,446	£19,150	£4,770	—	£193,052
2019-20	153	£148,654	£23,503	£19,282	£5,833	—	£197,272
2020-21	161	£183,240	£24,908	£17,702	£1,155	—	£227,005
2021-22	128	£170,229	£25,518	£17,520	£4,655	—	£217,922
2022-23	152	£196,400	£24,717	£20,027	£4,613	—	£245,756
2023-24	172	£206,997	£28,930	£23,912	£4,944	—	£264,783
2024-25	155	£232,274	£26,871	£24,348	£4,348	—	£287,841
2025-26	77	£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, 2015-16

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£131,444
Professional Services (Staff.)	1	£1,500
Staff Training Costs	1	£912

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	12	£7,443
Stationery Purchase	39	£4,194
Const Office Electricity	13	£2,832
Other Equip Purchase	4	£1,900
Business Rates	1	£1,789
Venue Hire Surgery/Meeting	11	£1,753

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	14	£15,535
Council Tax	1	£598
Internet	13	£438
Electricity	12	£192
Service Charges	1	£24

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£9,469

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	£131,444	£131,444
31 March 2016	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2015-16	£9,469	£9,469
1 April 2015	Office Costs	Business Rates	Birmingham City Council Rates	£1,789	£1,789
24 March 2016	Office Costs	Other Equip Purchase	April Payment Card	£1,650	£1,650
31 March 2016	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Kirsty Mack	£1,500	£1,500
15 January 2016	Office Costs	Computer HW Purchase	January Payment Card	£1,399	£1,399
27 January 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,365	£1,365
25 December 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,365	£1,365
25 November 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,365	£1,365
27 October 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,365	£1,365
24 September 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,365	£1,365
27 August 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,365	£1,365
6 July 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,365	£1,365
1 June 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,300	£1,300
1 May 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,300	£1,300

Claims refused and money repaid, 2015-16

4 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £161 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