MPs’ business costs

Valerie Vaz

IPSA paid £2,517,115 against 2,243 published rows for Valerie Vaz between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Walsall South BC, then Walsall and Bloxwich 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, 2017-18

112 claims, £167,228 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.	2	£134,163	80.2%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	86	£20,442	12.2%
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.	23	£9,043	5.4%
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	£3,580	2.1%

Every year in the register

Valerie Vaz’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	184	£73,797	£16,896	£9,818	£5,050	—	£105,562
2011-12	204	£113,787	£17,064	£9,378	£5,396	—	£145,625
2012-13	167	£129,250	£16,189	£9,652	£4,691	—	£159,782
2013-14	164	£122,356	£22,839	£8,690	£4,245	—	£158,131
2014-15	162	£110,553	£20,206	£9,928	£5,935	—	£146,623
2015-16	170	£111,635	£21,649	£7,139	£4,900	—	£145,323
2016-17	101	£113,386	£20,807	£8,973	£3,674	—	£146,840
2017-18	112	£134,163	£20,442	£9,043	£3,580	—	£167,228
2018-19	114	£136,837	£22,013	£9,291	£4,649	—	£172,790
2019-20	137	£149,736	£25,245	£11,636	£4,464	—	£191,081
2020-21	148	£145,719	£20,677	£9,279	£2,232	—	£177,907
2021-22	162	£149,059	£20,807	£11,386	£4,528	—	£185,780
2022-23	123	£154,681	£25,571	£12,146	£5,254	—	£197,652
2023-24	122	£142,873	£16,139	£17,842	£5,033	£263	£182,149
2024-25	123	£162,496	£31,615	£19,901	£3,660	£170	£217,841
2025-26	50	—	£12,185	£4,617	—	—	£16,802

A year in which Valerie Vaz 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	£133,363
Pooled Services: Direct	1	£800

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent 2	2	£4,375
Const Office Rent	3	£3,943
Const Office Electricity	4	£2,880
Stationery Purchase	13	£2,088
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	21	£1,684
Website - Design/Production	2	£1,370

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	12	£6,900
Council Tax	2	£1,356
Gas	3	£488
Electricity	3	£211
Water	2	£145
Telephone Usage/Rental	1	£-57

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£3,580

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	£133,363	£133,363
31 March 2018	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2017-18	£3,580	£3,580
18 January 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	rent	£2,188	£2,188
19 October 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	rent	£2,188	£2,188
12 July 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent 2	rent	£2,188	£2,188
15 June 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent 2	rent	£2,188	£2,188
15 February 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Electricity	electricity	£1,515	£1,515
30 March 2018	Office Costs	Website - Design/Production	website	£1,250	£1,250
31 March 2018	Office Costs	Tel/Mobile Purchase	telephone/mobile purchase	£1,120	£1,120
10 April 2017	Accommodation	Council Tax	various	£1,000	£1,000
19 July 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Electricity	electricity	£988	£988
28 March 2018	Office Costs	Stationery Purchase	XMA Ltd	£975	£975
30 January 2018	Staffing	Pooled Services: Direct	PRS	£800	£800
26 March 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	rent	£575	£575
26 March 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	rent	£575	£575

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 Valerie Vaz 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 · Valerie Vaz’s register of interests and votes · Sources