MPs’ business costs

Cat Smith

IPSA paid £2,093,490 against 1,234 published rows for Cat Smith between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Lancaster and Fleetwood CC, then Lancaster and Wyre 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, 2019-20

187 claims, £208,744 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.	25	£150,558	72.1%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	120	£22,040	10.6%
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.	25	£25,655	12.3%
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.	17	£10,490	5.0%

Every year in the register

Cat Smith’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	88	£119,778	£20,079	—	£8,922	£65	—	£148,843
2016-17	105	£136,225	£20,676	—	£8,901	£5,935	—	£171,738
2017-18	123	£139,097	£16,046	—	£6,896	—	—	£162,040
2018-19	142	£141,234	£17,491	£3,977	£5,474	—	—	£168,175
2019-20	187	£150,558	£22,040	£25,655	£10,490	—	—	£208,744
2020-21	118	£167,666	£18,232	£20,654	£3,862	—	—	£210,414
2021-22	98	£181,421	£17,789	£22,766	£6,775	—	£598	£229,349
2022-23	150	£217,499	£26,728	£4,665	£15,275	—	—	£264,167
2023-24	108	£201,149	£15,588	£26,132	£11,540	—	£912	£255,321
2024-25	75	£206,705	£13,086	£25,645	£15,267	—	—	£260,702
2025-26	40	£900	£10,531	£2,567	—	—	—	£13,998

A year in which Cat Smith 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, 2019-20

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£150,457
Volunteer - agreed arrangement costs	24	£102

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	8	£8,527
Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs	2	£3,505
Utilities	26	£2,119
Stationery & printing	23	£1,902
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	11	£1,647
Cleaning services	20	£1,504

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	12	£21,312
Council tax	2	£2,619
Utilities	11	£1,724

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rail	6	£6,473
Mileage - car	3	£2,364
Hotel - London	1	£1,225
Hotel - UK Not London	1	£295
Parking	4	£101
Taxi	1	£27

Largest claims, 2019-20

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 2020	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2019-20 year	£150,457	£150,457
31 March 2020	MP Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2019-20	£3,707	£3,707
24 March 2020	Office Costs	Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs	Building work at constituency office	£3,300	£3,300
31 March 2020	Staff Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2019-20	£1,952	£1,952
1 April 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,776	£1,776
4 March 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,776	£1,776
5 February 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,776	£1,776
2 January 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,776	£1,776
5 December 2019	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,776	£1,776
1 November 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Direct rental payment	£1,776	£1,776
2 October 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Direct rental payment	£1,776	£1,776
1 September 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Direct rental payment	£1,776	£1,776
1 August 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Direct rental payment	£1,776	£1,776
3 July 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Direct rental payment	£1,776	£1,776
1 June 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Direct rental payment	£1,776	£1,776

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 Cat Smith 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 · Cat Smith’s register of interests and votes · Sources