MPs’ business costs

Dr Caroline Johnson

IPSA paid £1,460,768 against 1,231 published rows for Dr Caroline Johnson between 2016-17 and 2025-26 as the member for Sleaford and North Hykeham 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

57 claims, £12,548 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.

CategoryWhat it coversClaimsPaidShare
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.45£8,67069.1%
AccommodationThe 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.12£3,87830.9%

Every year in the register

Dr Caroline Johnson’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2016-17 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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsAccommodationTravelTotal
2016-1724£21,633£2,125£3,924£1,305£28,988
2017-18111£118,052£17,750£15,018£4,528£155,348
2018-1998£106,340£16,865£31,361£6,380£160,947
2019-20142£105,889£16,837£32,291£5,871£160,888
2020-21120£135,059£16,858£29,437£843£182,197
2021-22107£116,370£13,949£31,385£2,156£163,859
2022-23181£116,036£19,225£32,686£5,885£173,832
2023-24201£126,846£22,274£37,110£6,752£192,982
2024-25190£166,182£18,586£40,064£4,348£229,180
2025-2657£8,670£3,878£12,548

A year in which Dr Caroline Johnson 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.

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Stationery & printing16£3,266
Utilities11£1,477
Software & applications2£1,397
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage10£1,140
Website hosting and design2£631
Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs2£412

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Council tax1£2,822
Utilities11£1,056

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.

DateCategoryCost typeDescriptionClaimedPaid
27 March 2025AccommodationCouncil taxLONDON BOROUGH OF LAMB [200011726-9258] [200011805-109]£2,822£2,822
17 February 2026Office CostsSoftware & applicationsELECTED TECHNOLOGIES£738£738
17 February 2025Office CostsSoftware & applicationsELECTED TECHNOLOGIES [200011805-105]£659£659
2 December 2025Office CostsWebsite hosting and designBLUETREE WEBSITES£360£360
4 December 2024Office CostsWebsite hosting and designBLUETREE WEBSITES [200011805-106]£271£271
20 October 2025Office CostsMaintenance, Redecorations & RepairsWWW.MY.CHUBB.CO.UK£261£261
11 February 2026Office CostsUtilitiesWater£258£258
16 September 2025Office CostsInsurance - contentsNFU MUTUAL INSURAN£230£230
5 March 2026Office CostsStationery & printingBanner March 2026£229£229
4 December 2025Office CostsStationery & printingBanner January 2026£229£229
4 December 2025Office CostsStationery & printingBanner January 2026£229£229
4 December 2025Office CostsStationery & printingBanner January 2026£229£229
1 April 2025Office CostsStationery & printingBanner May 2025£229£229
1 April 2025Office CostsStationery & printingBanner May 2025£229£229
1 April 2025Office CostsStationery & printingBanner May 2025£229£229

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 Dr Caroline Johnson 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 · Dr Caroline Johnson’s register of interests and votes · Sources