MPs’ business costs

Sir Alec Shelbrooke

IPSA paid £2,769,040 against 1,375 published rows for Sir Alec Shelbrooke between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Elmet and Rothwell CC, then Wetherby and Easingwold 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, 2025-26

43 claims, £23,548 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.	11	£14,454	61.4%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	24	£7,427	31.5%
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.	8	£1,667	7.1%

Every year in the register

Sir Alec Shelbrooke’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	90	£72,874	£11,055	£16,255	£6,183	—	£106,368
2011-12	97	£99,010	£11,200	£17,195	£8,305	—	£135,710
2012-13	146	£121,971	£15,847	£20,287	£9,522	£450	£168,077
2013-14	118	£128,826	£13,601	£20,124	£12,273	—	£174,825
2014-15	91	£125,361	£8,974	£20,551	£10,636	—	£165,523
2015-16	92	£136,752	£14,410	£18,823	£7,154	—	£177,139
2016-17	67	£122,435	£12,922	£20,086	£6,082	—	£161,526
2017-18	59	£133,574	£12,931	£21,169	£6,213	—	£173,886
2018-19	58	£133,201	£12,369	£19,490	£8,077	—	£173,136
2019-20	121	£136,234	£20,992	£18,428	£7,054	—	£182,708
2020-21	55	£152,688	£17,808	£20,056	£4,186	—	£194,738
2021-22	77	£153,830	£21,624	£20,792	£5,961	—	£202,206
2022-23	95	£166,475	£23,392	£21,296	£5,809	—	£216,973
2023-24	82	£185,401	£23,573	£23,342	£5,703	—	£238,020
2024-25	84	£215,044	£27,645	£25,131	£6,838	—	£274,658
2025-26	43	£14,454	£7,427	£1,667	—	—	£23,548

A year in which Sir Alec Shelbrooke 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, 2025-26

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Bought-in services	11	£14,454

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Stationery & printing	5	£2,819
Software & applications	2	£1,657
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	4	£1,631
Utilities	11	£1,062
TV licence	1	£175
Equipment - purchase	1	£83

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Council tax	1	£1,130
Utilities	6	£486
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	1	£51

Largest claims, 2025-26

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
15 January 2026	Office Costs	Software & applications	ELECTED TECHNOLOGIES	£1,476	£1,476
14 February 2026	Staffing	Bought-in services	Comms & Media	£1,314	£1,314
14 January 2026	Staffing	Bought-in services	Comms & Media	£1,314	£1,314
14 December 2025	Staffing	Bought-in services	Comms & Media	£1,314	£1,314
14 November 2025	Staffing	Bought-in services	Comms & Media	£1,314	£1,314
14 October 2025	Staffing	Bought-in services	Comms & Media	£1,314	£1,314
14 September 2025	Staffing	Bought-in services	Comms & Media	£1,314	£1,314
14 August 2025	Staffing	Bought-in services	Comms & Media	£1,314	£1,314
14 July 2025	Staffing	Bought-in services	Comms & Media	£1,314	£1,314
14 June 2025	Staffing	Bought-in services	Comms & Media	£1,314	£1,314
14 May 2025	Staffing	Bought-in services	Comms & Media	£1,314	£1,314
14 April 2025	Staffing	Bought-in services	Comms & Media	£1,314	£1,314
6 January 2026	Accommodation	Council tax	WWW.WESTMINSTER.GOV.UK	£1,130	£1,130
9 February 2026	Office Costs	Stationery & printing	SUPERIOR OFF SUPPLIES	£1,002	£1,002
24 October 2025	Office Costs	Stationery & printing	SUPERIOR OFF SUPPLIES	£806	£806

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 Sir Alec Shelbrooke 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 · Sir Alec Shelbrooke’s register of interests and votes · Sources