MPs’ business costs

Bob Blackman

IPSA paid £3,138,130 against 1,843 published rows for Bob Blackman between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Harrow East 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, 2015-16

98 claims, £184,539 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.	3	£155,472	84.2%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	94	£26,049	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	£3,018	1.6%

Every year in the register

Bob Blackman’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	101	£92,669	£22,044	£3,928	—	£118,641
2011-12	94	£115,520	£25,310	£4,468	—	£145,298
2012-13	162	£145,164	£27,417	£4,483	—	£177,064
2013-14	117	£148,994	£25,340	£4,022	—	£178,357
2014-15	120	£140,321	£25,885	£3,957	—	£170,163
2015-16	98	£155,472	£26,049	£3,018	—	£184,539
2016-17	94	£148,500	£26,104	£1,835	—	£176,439
2017-18	105	£160,217	£26,771	£1,101	—	£188,089
2018-19	97	£167,349	£27,617	£1,765	—	£196,731
2019-20	111	£156,420	£35,230	£1,511	—	£193,161
2020-21	117	£207,130	£36,492	£463	£9,782	£253,867
2021-22	126	£218,187	£30,155	£1,729	£6,141	£256,212
2022-23	146	£237,183	£33,261	£2,565	—	£273,008
2023-24	138	£252,870	£39,935	£1,948	—	£294,753
2024-25	142	£268,549	£42,705	£1,828	—	£313,082
2025-26	75	—	£18,725	—	—	£18,725

A year in which Bob Blackman 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, 2015-16

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£162,768
Pooled Services: Direct	1	£2,977
Budget Repayment (Staffing)	1	£-10,273

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent 2	4	£11,230
Stationery Purchase	18	£3,811
Training MP Staff	1	£3,540
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	46	£2,816
Const Office Buildings Insur.	1	£901
Computer SW Purchase	1	£900

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£3,018

Largest claims, 2015-16

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 2016	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2015-16 year	£162,768	£162,768
26 May 2015	Office Costs	Training MP Staff	Staff Training [*] [*]	£3,540	£3,540
9 December 2015	Office Costs	Const Office Rent 2	Const. Office rental	£3,250	£3,250
31 March 2016	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2015-16	£3,018	£3,018
12 June 2015	Staffing	Pooled Services: Direct	PRU	£2,977	£2,977
7 September 2015	Office Costs	Const Office Rent 2	Const Office Rental	£2,730	£2,730
23 June 2015	Office Costs	Const Office Rent 2	Constituency Office Rental	£2,730	£2,730
1 April 2015	Office Costs	Const Office Rent 2	Const. Office Rent	£2,520	£2,520
1 April 2015	Office Costs	Const Office Buildings Insur.	Insurance	£901	£901
6 October 2015	Office Costs	Computer SW Purchase	PRU	£900	£900
15 June 2015	Office Costs	Stationery Purchase	Letter Headed Notepaper	£648	£648
9 August 2015	Office Costs	Legal Exp/Emp Practice Insur.	EPL	£578	£578
18 June 2015	Office Costs	Stationery Purchase	Toner Cartridges	£505	£505
18 June 2015	Office Costs	Stationery Purchase	Toner Cartridges	£498	£498
24 November 2015	Office Costs	Stationery Purchase	Payment Card November	£444	£444

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 Bob Blackman 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 · Bob Blackman’s register of interests and votes · Sources