MPs’ business costs

Mr Gagan Mohindra

IPSA paid £905,775 against 391 published rows for Mr Gagan Mohindra between 2019-20 and 2025-26 as the member for South West Hertfordshire 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, 2020-21

50 claims, £157,187 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.2£138,67288.2%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.45£18,28311.6%
TravelJourneys 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.3£2330.1%

Every year in the register

Mr Gagan Mohindra’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2019-20 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 costsTravelTotal
2019-2024£12,578£998£175£13,752
2020-2150£138,672£18,283£233£157,187
2021-2276£147,590£16,330£2,099£166,018
2022-2339£161,945£4,865£6,801£173,611
2023-24115£166,099£6,705£10,797£183,602
2024-2572£189,490£9,726£8,397£207,614
2025-2615£3,991£3,991

A year in which Mr Gagan Mohindra 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, 2020-21

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£138,313
Training - staff1£359

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Equipment - purchase12£6,566
Pooled staffing services1£3,050
Training - staff5£1,937
Stationery & printing12£1,922
Advertising and contact cards2£1,657
Software & applications2£1,496

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Mileage - car3£233

Largest claims, 2020-21

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
31 March 2021StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2020-21 year£138,313£138,313
30 March 2021Office CostsEquipment - purchasePrinter, photocopier & scanner£4,074£4,074
27 May 2020Office CostsPooled staffing servicesPolicy Research Unit (Conservative)£3,050£3,050
31 March 2021Office CostsWorking From Home AllowanceAggregated figure for 2020-21£1,197£1,197
30 May 2020Office CostsSoftware & applicationsCasework 12 months£900£900
23 April 2020Office CostsAdvertising and contact cardsNEWSQUEST MEDIA£889£889
27 April 2020Office CostsAdvertising and contact cardsJPIM ADVERTISING£768£768
26 April 2020Office CostsSoftware & applicationsCREATIVE CLOUD INDIV£596£596
1 June 2020Office CostsEquipment - purchaseOffice furniture£458£458
22 May 2020Office CostsStationery & printingCARTRIDGE SAVE£451£451
27 January 2021Office CostsTraining - staffPARLI-TRAINING£451£451
20 April 2020Office CostsEquipment - purchasePrinter, photocopier & scanner£411£411
5 August 2020Office CostsEquipment - purchaseOther office equipment£391£391
1 September 2020Office CostsEquipment - purchaseOther office equipment£390£390
22 March 2021Office CostsTraining - staffWESTMINSTERSKILLCENTRE£384£384

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 Mr Gagan Mohindra 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 · Mr Gagan Mohindra’s register of interests and votes · Sources