MPs’ business costs

Afzal Khan

IPSA paid £1,774,108 against 1,431 published rows for Afzal Khan between 2017-18 and 2025-26 as the member for Manchester, Gorton BC, then Manchester Rusholme 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

97 claims, £150,182 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.	1	£107,770	71.8%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	69	£17,558	11.7%
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.	26	£17,934	11.9%
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	£6,920	4.6%

Every year in the register

Afzal Khan’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2017-18 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	Total
2017-18	97	£107,770	£17,558	£17,934	£6,920	£150,182
2018-19	156	£149,283	£23,360	£22,174	£6,170	£200,987
2019-20	156	£156,049	£21,930	£22,698	£4,250	£204,927
2020-21	166	£182,851	£22,585	£21,073	£431	£226,941
2021-22	190	£203,314	£22,382	£23,007	£4,589	£253,292
2022-23	207	£184,569	£18,704	£23,588	£11,319	£238,179
2023-24	224	£189,418	£18,694	£24,501	£10,349	£242,961
2024-25	191	£194,493	£18,909	£25,792	£8,552	£247,745
2025-26	44	£230	£6,428	£2,237	—	£8,896

A year in which Afzal Khan 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	£107,770

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	5	£6,739
Professional Services: Direct	1	£3,600
Stationery Purchase	13	£1,804
IT/Other Equipment Hire	11	£1,600
Computer HW Purchase	1	£946
Tel/Mobile Purchase	1	£900

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	9	£14,712
Council Tax	3	£1,820
Hotel London Area	3	£855
Telephone Usage/Rental	4	£284
Electricity	3	£120
Gas	2	£100

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£6,920

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	£107,770	£107,770
31 March 2018	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2017-18	£6,920	£6,920
18 July 2017	Office Costs	Professional Services: Direct	PRS	£3,600	£3,600
18 December 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£2,525	£2,525
20 September 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£2,525	£2,525
26 January 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,647	£1,647
21 December 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,647	£1,647
24 November 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,647	£1,647
29 October 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,647	£1,647
29 September 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,647	£1,647
29 August 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,647	£1,647
2 August 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,647	£1,647
7 July 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,647	£1,647
23 February 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,538	£1,538
26 February 2018	Office Costs	Computer HW Purchase	Feb payments by card	£946	£946

Claims refused and money repaid, 2017-18

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £910 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 Afzal Khan 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 · Afzal Khan’s register of interests and votes · Sources