MPs’ business costs

Tim Farron

IPSA paid £3,209,313 against 1,786 published rows for Tim Farron between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Westmorland and Lonsdale 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, 2014-15

81 claims, £177,385 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.	8	£134,656	75.9%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	59	£12,025	6.8%
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.	13	£19,708	11.1%
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	£10,996	6.2%

Every year in the register

Tim Farron’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	Accommodation	Travel	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	119	£96,479	£17,753	£14,535	£10,030	£411	£139,208
2011-12	124	£111,005	£19,926	£20,006	£7,908	—	£158,846
2012-13	127	£136,463	£19,967	£18,762	£9,159	—	£184,351
2013-14	112	£136,584	£23,157	£17,160	£10,310	—	£187,210
2014-15	81	£134,656	£12,025	£19,708	£10,996	—	£177,385
2015-16	78	£120,843	£18,507	£20,409	£9,613	—	£169,371
2016-17	125	£140,665	£18,964	£18,919	£12,085	—	£190,633
2017-18	192	£149,957	£29,895	£19,726	£11,236	—	£210,814
2018-19	95	£153,457	£23,306	£20,180	£11,596	—	£208,540
2019-20	82	£155,505	£16,891	£20,287	£13,900	—	£206,584
2020-21	107	£185,937	£37,297	£19,952	£8,115	—	£251,300
2021-22	119	£201,771	£19,329	£16,243	£11,932	—	£249,275
2022-23	156	£217,736	£24,515	£16,330	£17,673	—	£276,254
2023-24	178	£229,454	£26,505	£17,500	£15,193	—	£288,651
2024-25	78	£247,878	£27,748	£17,438	£13,070	—	£306,133
2025-26	13	—	£1,876	£2,881	—	—	£4,757

A year in which Tim Farron 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, 2014-15

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£124,836
Pooled Services	1	£4,956
Professional Services (Staff.)	3	£4,231
Practice Liability Insurance	1	£578
Health and Welfare Costs	2	£55

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	1	£4,745
Professional Services: Direct	1	£2,855
Stationery Purchase	8	£874
Const Office cleaning	2	£780
Venue Hire Surgery/Meeting	17	£504
Security	1	£462

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	12	£17,940
Council Tax	1	£1,768

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£10,996

Largest claims, 2014-15

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 2015	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2014-15 year	£124,836	£124,836
31 March 2015	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2014-15	£10,996	£10,996
4 July 2014	Staffing	Pooled Services	PST subscription	£4,956	£4,956
1 April 2014	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	office costs april	£4,745	£4,745
24 July 2014	Office Costs	Professional Services: Direct	[***]	£2,855	£2,855
24 April 2014	Accommodation	Council Tax	travel card	£1,768	£1,768
30 March 2015	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Staffing Assistance	£1,591	£1,591
27 February 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517
28 January 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517
26 December 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517
26 November 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517
27 October 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517
26 September 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517
27 August 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517
24 July 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517

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 Tim Farron 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 · Tim Farron’s register of interests and votes · Sources