Civometry

MPs’ business costs

Stephen Morgan

IPSA paid £1,865,411 against 1,844 published rows for Stephen Morgan between 2017-18 and 2025-26 as the member for Portsmouth South 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, 2024-25

267 claims, £287,653 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.12£221,92477.2%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.219£31,48710.9%
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.21£27,7039.6%
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.12£3,3061.1%
MiscellaneousClaims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.3£3,2321.1%

Every year in the register

Stephen Morgan’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2017-18 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
2017-18112£54,668£16,952£18,620£2,737—£92,977
2018-19161£145,931£20,661£22,926£8,067—£197,585
2019-20185£148,411£22,682£20,328£8,929£10,740£211,090
2020-21154£187,038£34,489£22,982£2,214£27£246,750
2021-22227£185,506£25,729£24,379£3,556—£239,171
2022-23327£208,090£30,367£25,209£5,025—£268,691
2023-24314£234,717£32,695£26,716£6,529—£300,656
2024-25267£221,924£31,487£27,703£3,306£3,232£287,653
2025-2697£1,428£17,759£1,652——£20,839

A year in which Stephen Morgan 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, 2024-25

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£214,784
Pooled staffing services4£4,600
Training - staff7£2,540

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent1£10,438
Stationery & printing60£4,525
Utilities18£3,398
Cleaning services17£3,397
Software & applications47£2,479
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage10£1,491

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent1£24,959
Utilities10£1,434
Council tax10£1,309

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rail4£2,809
Mileage - car2£221
Parking3£128
Hotel - London1£88
Railcard2£60

Miscellaneous

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Bought-in services1£3,043
Removals2£189

Largest claims, 2024-25

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 2025StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2024-25 year£214,784£214,784
31 March 2025AccommodationRentAggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2024-25£24,959£24,959
31 March 2025Office CostsRentAggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2024-25£10,438£10,438
22 August 2024MiscellaneousBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£3,043£3,043
31 March 2025Staff TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2024-25£2,220£2,220
21 March 2025StaffingPooled staffing servicesParliamentary Research Service (Labour)£1,150£1,150
21 March 2025StaffingPooled staffing servicesParliamentary Research Service (Labour)£1,150£1,150
21 March 2025StaffingPooled staffing servicesParliamentary Research Service (Labour)£1,150£1,150
12 April 2024StaffingPooled staffing servicesParliamentary Research Service (Labour)£1,150£1,150
6 September 2024Office CostsTraining - staffST JOHN AMBULANCE£936£936
7 June 2024Office CostsUtilitiesElectricity£849£849
5 December 2024Office CostsStationery & printingUK FLYERS£720£720
7 March 2025Office CostsCleaning services[***][***][***] [200011725-3783]£600£600
4 July 2024Office CostsStationery & printingBISHOPS PRINTERS£589£589
20 June 2024AccommodationUtilitiesGas£578£578

Claims refused and money repaid, 2024-25

6 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £261 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 Morgan 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 Morgan’s register of interests and votes · Sources