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, 2017-18

192 claims, £210,814 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.	130	£149,957	71.1%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	47	£29,895	14.2%
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.	14	£19,726	9.4%
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	£11,236	5.3%

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, 2017-18

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£144,914
Professional Services (Staff.)	1	£3,461
Volunteer Agreed Arrang. Costs	81	£1,464
Food & Drink Volunteer	47	£118

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Professional Services	8	£10,200
Const Office Rent	1	£6,000
Professional Services: Direct	1	£5,100
Const Office Gas	2	£2,311
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	1	£1,331
Const Office Cleaning	2	£1,280

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	12	£17,780
Council Tax	2	£1,946

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£11,236

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	£144,914	£144,914
31 March 2018	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2017-18	£11,236	£11,236
23 October 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Const. office rent 2017/18	£6,000	£6,000
22 July 2017	Office Costs	Professional Services: Direct	PST	£5,100	£5,100
19 June 2017	Office Costs	Professional Services	PST Services	£5,100	£5,100
21 October 2017	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Prof. Service [*] [*]	£3,461	£3,461
17 April 2017	Accommodation	Council Tax	travel card	£1,924	£1,924
23 February 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517
26 January 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517
21 December 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517
24 November 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517
29 October 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517
29 September 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517
29 August 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517
27 July 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517

Claims refused and money repaid, 2017-18

2 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £5,814 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 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