MPs’ business costs

Brendan O'Hara

IPSA paid £2,546,894 against 1,998 published rows for Brendan O'Hara between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Argyll and Bute CC, then Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber 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, 2017-18

229 claims, £221,649 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.	5	£148,102	66.8%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	175	£19,722	8.9%
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.	48	£28,215	12.7%
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	£25,610	11.6%

Every year in the register

Brendan O'Hara’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2015-16 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	Starting up and winding up	Miscellaneous	Total
2015-16	119	£95,959	£12,733	£23,470	£38,443	£3,400	—	£174,006
2016-17	233	£141,315	£23,827	£25,460	£41,849	£2,599	—	£235,050
2017-18	229	£148,102	£19,722	£28,215	£25,610	—	—	£221,649
2018-19	207	£152,926	£21,931	£28,458	£44,580	—	—	£247,895
2019-20	214	£143,174	£21,430	£26,152	£28,056	—	—	£218,812
2020-21	167	£155,008	£20,691	£19,737	£5,186	—	—	£200,622
2021-22	160	£185,949	£18,815	£21,477	£25,251	—	—	£251,492
2022-23	188	£208,831	£24,726	£22,063	£43,441	—	—	£299,060
2023-24	222	£229,940	£26,918	£25,319	£42,500	—	—	£324,678
2024-25	185	£250,784	£21,163	£28,871	£55,978	—	£1,199	£357,995
2025-26	74	—	£14,385	£1,250	—	—	—	£15,635

A year in which Brendan O'Hara 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	£131,036
Pooled Services	1	£10,500
Professional Services (Staff.)	1	£4,000
Staff Training Costs	2	£2,567

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	12	£5,400
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	22	£4,446
Stationery Purchase	62	£2,666
Const Office Electricity	14	£1,077
Professional Services	2	£1,035
Furniture Purchase	2	£1,004

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	13	£25,220
Council Tax	10	£1,536
Electricity	11	£784
Internet	11	£385
Water	2	£197
Service Charges	1	£93

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£25,610

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	£131,036	£131,036
31 March 2018	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2017-18	£25,610	£25,610
17 July 2017	Staffing	Pooled Services	SNP Group	£10,500	£10,500
21 March 2018	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Communication/media services	£4,000	£4,000
9 February 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,102	£2,102
9 January 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,102	£2,102
11 December 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,102	£2,102
9 November 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,102	£2,102
9 October 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,102	£2,102
13 September 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,102	£2,102
10 August 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,102	£2,102
12 July 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,102	£2,102
11 June 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,102	£2,102
11 May 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,102	£2,102
11 April 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,102	£2,102

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 £133 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 Brendan O'Hara 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 · Brendan O'Hara’s register of interests and votes · Sources