Civometry

MPs’ business costs

Stephen Doughty

IPSA paid £2,632,640 against 1,331 published rows for Stephen Doughty between 2012-13 and 2025-26 as the member for Cardiff South and Penarth 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, 2022-23

98 claims, £224,646 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.1£198,59488.4%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.52£8,6513.9%
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.23£10,2714.6%
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.22£7,1303.2%

Every year in the register

Stephen Doughty’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2012-13 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 costsAccommodationTravelStarting up and winding upMiscellaneousTotal
2012-1380£33,142£6,799£7,536£2,617£4,318—£54,411
2013-14157£134,633£21,866£19,322£6,878£1,570£425£184,693
2014-15125£137,166£22,871£15,540£7,583——£183,160
2015-1683£134,499£23,040£10,055£6,402—£773£174,770
2016-1792£141,211£22,791£17,691£5,929—£150£187,771
2017-1878£148,393£20,013£19,606£7,321——£195,334
2018-1995£152,153£23,340£21,686£10,930—£234£208,343
2019-20121£155,785£19,550£18,968£9,407——£203,710
2020-21115£178,442£26,095£23,211£3,622——£231,370
2021-2276£169,774£12,458£22,893£3,170——£208,296
2022-2398£198,594£8,651£10,271£7,130——£224,646
2023-24118£233,800£19,324£13,527£10,421—£247£277,319
2024-2583£242,313£18,713£22,686£10,614—£567£294,894
2025-2610—£3,922————£3,922

A year in which Stephen Doughty 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, 2022-23

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£198,594

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Pooled staffing services1£4,200
Rent12£1,757
Software & applications1£600
Advertising and contact cards3£441
Working From Home Allowance1£426
Website hosting and design7£308

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent6£8,724
Council tax6£897
Utilities2£428
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage7£223
Parking2£0

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rail6£4,408
Mileage - car2£786
Air travel1£591
Hotel - European1£409
Parking3£282
Taxi4£177

Largest claims, 2022-23

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 2023StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2022-23 year£198,594£198,594
18 May 2022Office CostsPooled staffing servicesParliamentary Research Service (Labour)£4,200£4,200
31 March 2023MP TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2022-23£2,817£2,817
16 August 2022AccommodationRent—£1,700£1,700
12 July 2022AccommodationRent—£1,700£1,700
14 June 2022AccommodationRent—£1,700£1,700
10 May 2022AccommodationRent—£1,700£1,700
12 April 2022AccommodationRent—£1,700£1,700
31 March 2023Staff TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2022-23£1,297£1,297
31 March 2023MP TravelMileage - carAggregated figure for travel during 2022-23£675£675
26 May 2022Office CostsSoftware & applicationsELECTED TECHNOLOGIES£600£600
31 March 2023MP TravelAir travelAggregated figure for travel during 2022-23£591£591
1 April 2022AccommodationUtilitiesWater£428£428
31 March 2023Office CostsWorking From Home AllowanceAggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2022-23£426£426
31 March 2023MP TravelHotel - EuropeanAggregated figure for travel during 2022-23£409£409

Claims refused and money repaid, 2022-23

2 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £446 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 Stephen Doughty 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 · Stephen Doughty’s register of interests and votes · Sources