MPs’ business costs

David Mundell

IPSA paid £3,428,223 against 4,070 published rows for David Mundell between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale 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, 2011-12

232 claims, £176,819 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	£111,948	63.3%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	187	£21,551	12.2%
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.	41	£21,152	12.0%
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	£22,168	12.5%

Every year in the register

David Mundell’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	Accommodation	Travel	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	187	£81,783	£18,314	£16,372	£13,145	£807	£130,421
2011-12	232	£111,948	£21,551	£21,152	£22,168	—	£176,819
2012-13	219	£117,706	£21,739	£19,467	£20,049	—	£178,960
2013-14	209	£135,960	£22,684	£20,128	£21,618	£243	£200,633
2014-15	225	£136,054	£22,014	£19,659	£22,093	—	£199,820
2015-16	196	£138,096	£22,094	£20,357	£15,449	—	£195,995
2016-17	194	£139,422	£22,768	£20,166	£13,976	—	£196,333
2017-18	195	£150,900	£21,347	£21,069	£10,290	—	£203,606
2018-19	235	£153,326	£24,917	£21,304	£14,081	—	£213,628
2019-20	280	£166,424	£29,678	£19,252	£21,461	—	£236,816
2020-21	277	£193,675	£34,951	£19,857	£11,007	—	£259,491
2021-22	306	£190,858	£26,908	£21,286	£23,470	—	£262,522
2022-23	366	£212,880	£27,060	£21,967	£25,744	—	£287,652
2023-24	454	£234,136	£30,824	£27,860	£33,248	—	£326,067
2024-25	354	£245,353	£31,653	£28,193	£25,338	—	£330,536
2025-26	141	£491	£25,068	£3,365	—	—	£28,924

A year in which David Mundell 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, 2011-12

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£107,963
Pooled Staffing Services	1	£3,960
Reward and Recognition Payment	1	£25

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	7	£3,552
Professional Services	7	£2,631
Stationery Purchase	19	£2,584
Website - Hosting	6	£1,884
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	5	£1,854
Const Office Hire of Premises	60	£1,574

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	14	£18,928
Electricity	9	£860
Council Tax	2	£570
Internet	11	£280
Telephone Usage/Rental	2	£191
Service Charges	2	£170

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£22,168

Largest claims, 2011-12

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 2012	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2011-12 year	£107,963	£107,963
31 March 2012	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2011-12	£22,168	£22,168
3 June 2011	Staffing	Pooled Staffing Services	PRU	£3,960	£3,960
20 June 2011	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	June 2011 - Shows/SST	£1,975	£1,975
2 March 2012	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,452	£1,452
2 February 2012	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,452	£1,452
3 January 2012	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,452	£1,452
1 December 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,452	£1,452
25 October 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,452	£1,452
25 September 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,452	£1,452
25 August 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,452	£1,452
28 July 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,452	£1,452
18 July 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,452	£1,452
29 June 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,452	£1,452
15 June 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,452	£1,452

Claims refused and money repaid, 2011-12

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £75 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 David Mundell 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 · David Mundell’s register of interests and votes · Sources