Civometry

MPs’ business costs

Catherine Atkinson

IPSA paid £226,358 against 104 published rows for Catherine Atkinson between 2024-25 and 2025-26 as the member for Derby North 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, 2025-26

29 claims, £18,795 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.

CategoryWhat it coversClaimsPaidShare
StaffingThe 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.6£7,17038.1%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.16£4,40723.4%
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.5£4,41223.5%
MiscellaneousClaims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.2£2,80614.9%

Every year in the register

Catherine Atkinson’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2024-25 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 costsAccommodationTravelMiscellaneousTotal
2024-2575£161,682£27,925£8,093£7,777£2,087£207,563
2025-2629£7,170£4,407£4,412—£2,806£18,795

A year in which Catherine Atkinson 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.

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Bought-in services6£7,170

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Stationery & printing9£2,019
Software & applications1£1,476
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage4£738
Newspapers, journals, magazines2£174

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Council tax1£2,676
Utilities4£1,736

Miscellaneous

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Bought-in services2£2,806

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
30 April 2025AccommodationCouncil taxCouncil tax payment£2,676£2,676
19 December 2025StaffingBought-in servicesAdministrative services£2,550£2,550
10 October 2025MiscellaneousBought-in servicesAdministrative services£1,874£1,874
17 June 2025Office CostsSoftware & applicationsELECTED TECHNOLOGIES£1,476£1,476
27 November 2025StaffingBought-in servicesAdministrative services£1,160£1,160
4 March 2026StaffingBought-in servicesAdministrative services£1,050£1,050
14 October 2025MiscellaneousBought-in servicesAdministrative services£932£932
18 February 2026StaffingBought-in servicesAdministrative services£840£840
19 December 2025StaffingBought-in servicesAdministrative services£820£820
30 January 2026StaffingBought-in servicesAdministrative services£750£750
24 September 2025AccommodationUtilitiesDual Fuel£668£668
6 February 2026AccommodationUtilitiesDual Fuel£483£483
29 November 2025AccommodationUtilitiesWater£434£434
18 October 2024Office CostsLandline phone & internet - rental & usageLandline£389£389
1 December 2025Office CostsStationery & printingCARTRIDGE SAVE£374£374

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 Catherine Atkinson 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 · Catherine Atkinson’s register of interests and votes · Sources