MPs’ business costs

Dame Siobhain McDonagh

IPSA paid £3,044,708 against 1,247 published rows for Dame Siobhain McDonagh between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Mitcham and Morden 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, 2019-20

106 claims, £195,364 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.	53	£166,669	85.3%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	53	£28,695	14.7%

Every year in the register

Dame Siobhain McDonagh’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	Travel	Total
2010-11	53	£99,106	£19,774	£529	£119,409
2011-12	73	£126,407	£22,929	£503	£149,839
2012-13	64	£142,704	£23,873	£469	£167,046
2013-14	138	£143,524	£24,234	£306	£168,064
2014-15	69	£144,991	£21,717	£200	£166,909
2015-16	42	£150,032	£18,716	£54	£168,801
2016-17	66	£148,500	£25,764	—	£174,264
2017-18	108	£160,330	£25,238	£92	£185,659
2018-19	92	£164,460	£27,227	—	£191,687
2019-20	106	£166,669	£28,695	—	£195,364
2020-21	56	£203,762	£22,944	—	£226,706
2021-22	62	£215,697	£33,299	—	£248,996
2022-23	62	£236,802	£23,988	—	£260,791
2023-24	72	£252,576	£34,299	—	£286,875
2024-25	106	£256,100	£39,609	—	£295,709
2025-26	78	£14,050	£24,538	—	£38,588

A year in which Dame Siobhain McDonagh 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, 2019-20

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£156,480
Bought-in services	4	£10,000
Volunteer - agreed arrangement costs	48	£189

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	13	£13,050
Postage & couriers	9	£5,460
Advertising and contact cards	4	£3,235
Equipment - hire	4	£3,009
Stationery & printing	11	£1,985
Software & applications	8	£954

Largest claims, 2019-20

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 2020	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2019-20 year	£156,480	£156,480
6 June 2019	Office Costs	Advertising and contact cards	Welcome to Mitcham and Morden booklet including all local contact details for schools, council, GPs etc	£2,595	£2,595
2 January 2020	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£2,500	£2,500
11 October 2019	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£2,500	£2,500
19 September 2019	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£2,500	£2,500
9 April 2019	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£2,500	£2,500
8 July 2019	Office Costs	Postage & couriers	Welcome to Mitcham and Morden Booklet Postage	£2,135	£2,135
9 April 2019	Office Costs	Rent	Constituency Office Rent	£1,500	£1,500
2 March 2020	Office Costs	Rent	Constituency Office Rent March 2020	£1,050	£1,050
10 February 2020	Office Costs	Rent	Constituency Office Rent Feb 2020	£1,050	£1,050
2 January 2020	Office Costs	Rent	January 2020 Constituency Office Rent	£1,050	£1,050
16 December 2019	Office Costs	Rent	Constituency Office Rent - December	£1,050	£1,050
1 November 2019	Office Costs	Rent	Constituency Office Rent November	£1,050	£1,050
1 October 2019	Office Costs	Rent	Constituency Office Rent October 2019	£1,050	£1,050
2 September 2019	Office Costs	Rent	Constituency Office Rent	£1,050	£1,050

Claims refused and money repaid, 2019-20

2 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £825 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 Dame Siobhain McDonagh 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 · Dame Siobhain McDonagh’s register of interests and votes · Sources