MPs’ business costs

Suella Braverman

IPSA paid £1,687,338 against 1,098 published rows for Suella Braverman between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Fareham CC, then Fareham and Waterlooville CC. 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, 2017-18

69 claims, £161,963 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.	1	£136,919	84.5%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	38	£13,430	8.3%
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.	29	£8,535	5.3%
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	£3,078	1.9%

Every year in the register

Suella Braverman’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2015-16 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	Starting up and winding up	Miscellaneous	Total
2015-16	79	£82,132	£14,113	£10,734	£2,939	£4,540	—	£114,458
2016-17	93	£125,270	£17,154	£11,907	£4,259	£300	—	£158,890
2017-18	69	£136,919	£13,430	£8,535	£3,078	—	—	£161,963
2018-19	115	£135,884	£16,662	£3,897	£3,282	—	—	£159,726
2019-20	116	£118,707	£15,996	£5,724	£2,918	—	—	£143,345
2020-21	100	£139,004	£20,261	£5,332	£1,375	—	—	£165,972
2021-22	98	£161,945	£11,868	£5,426	£1,616	—	—	£180,856
2022-23	123	£147,486	£14,267	£5,955	£1,887	—	—	£169,595
2023-24	107	£157,101	£11,665	£6,306	£730	—	£912	£176,715
2024-25	148	£214,698	£17,460	£6,408	£2,315	—	—	£240,882
2025-26	50	—	£9,415	£4,627	—	—	£895	£14,937

A year in which Suella Braverman 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, 2017-18

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£136,919

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	2	£4,700
Professional Services: Direct	1	£2,767
Stationery Purchase	8	£1,498
Newspapers/Journals	5	£1,459
Computer SW Purchase	1	£900
Professional Services	1	£762

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	9	£6,951
Service Charges	2	£1,045
Water	5	£212
Internet	4	£114
Gas	4	£97
Electricity	4	£88

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£3,078

Largest claims, 2017-18

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 2018	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2017-18 year	£136,919	£136,919
25 April 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£4,224	£4,224
31 March 2018	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2017-18	£3,078	£3,078
19 April 2017	Office Costs	Professional Services: Direct	PRU	£2,767	£2,767
3 November 2017	Accommodation	Service Charges	ASSOCIATED COSTS	£1,000	£1,000
17 October 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£995	£995
20 September 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£995	£995
19 August 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£995	£995
19 July 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£995	£995
19 June 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£995	£995
18 May 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£995	£995
19 April 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£995	£995
1 April 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£981	£981
19 April 2017	Office Costs	Computer SW Purchase	PRU	£900	£900
26 October 2017	Office Costs	Professional Services	Apprenticeship Fair	£762	£762

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 Suella Braverman 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 · Suella Braverman’s register of interests and votes · Sources