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, 2021-22

98 claims, £180,856 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.2£161,94589.5%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.60£11,8686.6%
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.30£5,4263.0%
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.6£1,6160.9%

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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsAccommodationTravelStarting up and winding upMiscellaneousTotal
2015-1679£82,132£14,113£10,734£2,939£4,540£114,458
2016-1793£125,270£17,154£11,907£4,259£300£158,890
2017-1869£136,919£13,430£8,535£3,078£161,963
2018-19115£135,884£16,662£3,897£3,282£159,726
2019-20116£118,707£15,996£5,724£2,918£143,345
2020-21100£139,004£20,261£5,332£1,375£165,972
2021-2298£161,945£11,868£5,426£1,616£180,856
2022-23123£147,486£14,267£5,955£1,887£169,595
2023-24107£157,101£11,665£6,306£730£912£176,715
2024-25148£214,698£17,460£6,408£2,315£240,882
2025-2650£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, 2021-22

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£158,953
Pooled staffing services1£2,992

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent1£5,050
Working From Home Allowance1£1,562
Training - staff2£996
Equipment - purchase2£973
Stationery & printing16£962
Software & applications4£798

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Utilities12£2,881
Council tax9£2,340
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage9£205

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Mileage - car3£1,307
Rail1£226
Hotel - UK Not London1£54
Taxi1£30

Largest claims, 2021-22

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 2022StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2021-22 year£158,953£158,953
18 May 2021Office CostsRent£5,050£5,050
7 April 2021StaffingPooled staffing servicesPolicy Research Unit (Conservative)£2,992£2,992
31 March 2022Office CostsWorking From Home AllowanceAggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22£1,562£1,562
31 March 2022MP TravelMileage - carAggregated figure for travel during 2021-22£1,186£1,186
14 September 2021Office CostsEquipment - purchaseComputer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories£720£720
16 November 2021Office CostsTraining - staffMBL SEMINARS£672£672
18 January 2022Office CostsSoftware & applicationsELECTED TECHNOLOGIES£600£600
3 February 2021Office CostsStationery & printingBanner June 2021£504£504
24 November 2021Office CostsTraining - staffMBL SEMINARS£324£324
14 June 2021AccommodationUtilitiesWater£267£267
4 June 2021AccommodationUtilitiesWater£267£267
15 December 2021AccommodationCouncil taxCouncil Tax£260£260
15 November 2021AccommodationCouncil taxCouncil tax£260£260
15 October 2021AccommodationCouncil taxCouncil Tax£260£260

Claims refused and money repaid, 2021-22

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £144 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 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