MPs’ business costs

Derek Twigg

IPSA paid £2,104,794 against 1,256 published rows for Derek Twigg between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Halton CC, then Widnes and Halewood 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, 2016-17

75 claims, £119,886 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.	2	£80,109	66.8%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	54	£11,564	9.6%
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.	18	£20,211	16.9%
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	£8,002	6.7%

Every year in the register

Derek Twigg’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	Total
2010-11	109	£74,164	£8,529	£18,460	£5,204	£106,358
2011-12	111	£92,428	£13,702	£19,401	£5,824	£131,355
2012-13	118	£77,343	£14,140	£19,556	£7,273	£118,312
2013-14	103	£68,892	£11,157	£19,826	£9,394	£109,270
2014-15	101	£79,000	£12,488	£19,485	£9,342	£120,315
2015-16	104	£80,987	£10,954	£17,285	£8,648	£117,873
2016-17	75	£80,109	£11,564	£20,211	£8,002	£119,886
2017-18	62	£84,210	£10,405	£22,063	£4,189	£120,868
2018-19	51	£88,804	£11,428	£18,783	£9,065	£128,081
2019-20	105	£100,538	£13,668	£21,674	£2,237	£138,117
2020-21	64	£99,380	£14,083	£20,187	£4,245	£137,896
2021-22	49	£121,405	£14,433	£22,091	£6,419	£164,348
2022-23	68	£126,680	£12,734	£22,387	£6,984	£168,785
2023-24	59	£147,125	£13,109	£22,300	£7,090	£189,624
2024-25	63	£179,687	£13,793	£26,560	£8,942	£228,982
2025-26	14	—	£2,735	£1,990	—	£4,725

A year in which Derek Twigg 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, 2016-17

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£75,309
Pooled Services: Direct	1	£4,800

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	13	£7,950
Stationery Purchase	14	£2,108
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	19	£678
Const Office Buildings Insur.	1	£393
Website - Hosting	2	£155
Parliamentary Accountancy	1	£138

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	13	£18,980
Council Tax	1	£669
Water	1	£473
Electricity	3	£89

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£8,002

Largest claims, 2016-17

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 2017	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2016-17 year	£75,309	£75,309
31 March 2017	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2016-17	£8,002	£8,002
29 April 2016	Staffing	Pooled Services: Direct	PRS	£4,800	£4,800
25 January 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,582	£1,582
20 December 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,582	£1,582
25 November 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,582	£1,582
26 October 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,582	£1,582
27 September 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,582	£1,582
24 August 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,582	£1,582
29 July 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,582	£1,582
29 June 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,582	£1,582
24 May 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,582	£1,582
27 April 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,582	£1,582
1 April 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,582	£1,582
24 February 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,270	£1,270

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 Derek Twigg 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 · Derek Twigg’s register of interests and votes · Sources