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, 2016-17

162 claims, £183,315 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.	12	£134,655	73.5%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	108	£22,115	12.1%
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	£18,190	9.9%
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	£8,354	4.6%

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, 2016-17

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£119,454
Professional Services (Staff.)	5	£14,900
Health and Welfare Costs	1	£220
Public Tr UND Volunteer	5	£81

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	13	£7,920
Stationery Purchase	13	£3,033
Const Office Electricity	12	£1,961
Business Rates	1	£1,803
Computer HW Purchase	3	£1,483
Venue Hire Surgery/Meeting	6	£1,400

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	15	£16,938
Council Tax	1	£594
Internet	12	£442
Electricity	12	£192
Service Charges	1	£24

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£8,354

Largest claims, 2016-17

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 2017	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2016-17 year	£119,454	£119,454
31 March 2017	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2016-17	£8,354	£8,354
31 March 2017	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Back Office Management	£3,100	£3,100
16 February 2017	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Back Office Management	£3,100	£3,100
20 December 2016	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Back Office Management	£3,100	£3,100
27 November 2016	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Back Office Management	£3,100	£3,100
7 March 2017	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Back Office Management	£2,500	£2,500
5 April 2016	Office Costs	Business Rates	Business Rates	£1,803	£1,803
25 January 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,408	£1,408
20 December 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,408	£1,408
25 November 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,408	£1,408
26 October 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,408	£1,408
27 September 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,408	£1,408
24 August 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,408	£1,408
29 July 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,408	£1,408

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