MPs’ business costs

Andy Slaughter

IPSA paid £3,009,489 against 1,167 published rows for Andy Slaughter between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Hammersmith BC, then Hammersmith and Chiswick 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, 2012-13

145 claims, £168,001 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.	100	£141,377	84.2%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	44	£24,502	14.6%
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	£2,121	1.3%

Every year in the register

Andy Slaughter’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	Travel	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	67	£113,667	£24,105	£1,151	—	£138,923
2011-12	130	£142,600	£23,752	£2,145	—	£168,496
2012-13	145	£141,377	£24,502	£2,121	—	£168,001
2013-14	92	£154,800	£25,036	£1,771	—	£181,607
2014-15	73	£145,180	£24,810	£1,798	—	£171,787
2015-16	60	£143,767	£25,811	£1,598	—	£171,176
2016-17	58	£140,262	£25,242	£1,664	—	£167,169
2017-18	62	£134,906	£23,667	£1,478	—	£160,051
2018-19	68	£150,079	£25,038	£1,597	—	£176,714
2019-20	49	£160,041	£19,699	£1,650	—	£181,390
2020-21	51	£204,726	£26,657	£976	—	£232,358
2021-22	48	£217,810	£25,390	£862	£17,302	£261,364
2022-23	77	£236,905	£27,178	£890	£4,803	£269,776
2023-24	75	£246,478	£21,931	£116	—	£268,524
2024-25	80	£257,728	£28,199	£74	—	£286,001
2025-26	32	—	£6,151	—	—	£6,151

A year in which Andy Slaughter 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, 2012-13

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£138,579
Public Tr UND Int/Volntr	48	£2,150
Food & Drink Int/Volntr	47	£637
Public Tr RAIL Other Int/Volnt	4	£11

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	2	£14,000
Postage Purchase	1	£4,847
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	13	£2,337
Stationery Purchase	13	£1,733
Professional Services	9	£900
Software Purchase	2	£369

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£2,121

Largest claims, 2012-13

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 2013	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2012-13 year	£138,579	£138,579
5 March 2013	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Constituency Office Rent	£10,500	£10,500
27 April 2012	Office Costs	Postage Purchase	Postage Stamps	£4,847	£4,847
2 April 2012	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Const Off Rent	£3,500	£3,500
31 March 2013	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2012-13	£2,121	£2,121
5 October 2012	Office Costs	Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	Constituency office phone	£373	£373
18 February 2013	Office Costs	Software Purchase	Caseworker subscription	£350	£350
18 December 2012	Office Costs	Stationery Purchase	Vodafone - Viking	£245	£245
16 October 2012	Office Costs	Stationery Purchase	Viking - Vodafone	£231	£231
11 June 2012	Staffing	Public Tr UND Int/Volntr	exp [***]	£205	£205
26 April 2012	Staffing	Public Tr UND Int/Volntr	Travel Exp [***]	£205	£205
22 May 2012	Office Costs	Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	Staionery and telephone	£190	£190
27 April 2012	Office Costs	Stationery Purchase	Staionery and telephone	£187	£187
15 October 2012	Office Costs	Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	Viking - Vodafone	£180	£180
13 November 2012	Office Costs	Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	Viking - Vodafone	£179	£179

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 Andy Slaughter 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 · Andy Slaughter’s register of interests and votes · Sources