MPs’ business costs

Yvette Cooper

IPSA paid £2,998,829 against 1,983 published rows for Yvette Cooper between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford CC, then Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley 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, 2011-12

210 claims, £150,169 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.	56	£118,102	78.6%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	152	£21,125	14.1%
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	£10,691	7.1%
Miscellaneous	Claims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.	1	£252	0.2%

Every year in the register

Yvette Cooper’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	140	£99,716	£17,112	£2,481	£7,958	—	£127,266
2011-12	210	£118,102	£21,125	—	£10,691	£252	£150,169
2012-13	197	£133,402	£20,031	—	£8,633	—	£162,065
2013-14	172	£142,281	£22,141	—	£9,713	£270	£174,405
2014-15	167	£136,743	£20,874	—	£9,380	—	£166,998
2015-16	111	£139,459	£22,254	—	£11,709	—	£173,423
2016-17	123	£140,200	£22,365	—	£21,921	—	£184,486
2017-18	53	£150,871	£21,335	—	£14,247	—	£186,453
2018-19	54	£153,357	£22,927	—	£23,208	—	£199,491
2019-20	81	£155,169	£20,339	—	£20,560	£800	£196,868
2020-21	114	£190,629	£23,596	—	£6,766	—	£220,991
2021-22	103	£203,317	£22,236	—	£11,952	—	£237,504
2022-23	146	£218,707	£22,732	—	£13,723	—	£255,162
2023-24	151	£230,069	£25,076	—	£11,790	—	£266,934
2024-25	98	£248,481	£23,982	—	£11,820	—	£284,284
2025-26	63	—	£12,329	—	—	—	£12,329

A year in which Yvette Cooper 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, 2011-12

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£112,942
Professional Services (Staff.)	7	£4,645
Public Tr UND Int/Volntr	5	£379
Food & Drink Intern/Volunteer	33	£105
Food & Drink Int/Volntr	10	£30

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	4	£10,000
Stationery Purchase	53	£5,328
Other	72	£1,703
Telephone/Mobile Hire	7	£1,309
Professional Services	2	£946
Postage Purchase	5	£755

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£10,691

Miscellaneous

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Contingency	1	£252

Largest claims, 2011-12

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 2012	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2011-12 year	£112,942	£112,942
31 March 2012	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2011-12	£10,691	£10,691
28 December 2011	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£2,500	£2,500
24 September 2011	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£2,500	£2,500
7 July 2011	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£2,500	£2,500
1 April 2011	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£2,500	£2,500
11 November 2011	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	201110 constit email mgt	£750	£750
21 October 2011	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	201110 constit mail mgt	£750	£750
30 September 2011	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	201109 constituency email mgt	£750	£750
9 September 2011	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	201109 constit email syst mgt	£750	£750
8 July 2011	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	201107 constit email syst mgt	£750	£750
9 June 2011	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	201106 const email syst mgt	£750	£750
28 March 2012	Office Costs	Postage Purchase	201203 casework mailing	£712	£712
4 November 2011	Office Costs	Professional Services	201111 internet support	£611	£611
9 December 2011	Office Costs	Stationery Purchase	201112 office stationery	£486	£486

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 Yvette Cooper 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 · Yvette Cooper’s register of interests and votes · Sources