MPs’ business costs

George Freeman

IPSA paid £2,981,516 against 2,869 published rows for George Freeman between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Mid Norfolk 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, 2017-18

114 claims, £195,867 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.	1	£147,947	75.5%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	99	£17,909	9.1%
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.	13	£25,549	13.0%
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	£4,462	2.3%

Every year in the register

George Freeman’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	177	£84,359	£11,359	£3,521	£4,634	—	£103,872
2011-12	167	£113,216	£19,513	£3,960	£6,315	—	£143,004
2012-13	196	£132,367	£19,229	£7,628	£5,613	—	£164,836
2013-14	342	£129,147	£23,721	£10,087	£7,074	—	£170,029
2014-15	206	£137,352	£19,288	£12,467	£5,610	—	£174,717
2015-16	108	£139,794	£16,001	£25,450	£3,422	—	£184,667
2016-17	133	£142,097	£20,799	£25,460	£4,347	—	£192,704
2017-18	114	£147,947	£17,909	£25,549	£4,462	—	£195,867
2018-19	110	£145,893	£23,622	£27,518	£3,466	—	£200,498
2019-20	126	£145,159	£17,476	—	£2,600	£1,012	£166,247
2020-21	162	£175,978	£22,600	£11,855	£932	£4,469	£215,834
2021-22	225	£201,569	£19,118	£16,320	£3,591	—	£240,598
2022-23	219	£209,542	£25,047	£17,840	£5,532	—	£257,961
2023-24	262	£207,777	£29,936	£19,090	£5,889	—	£262,692
2024-25	232	£223,565	£29,856	£19,734	£7,910	£7,143	£288,208
2025-26	90	£4,470	£14,629	£683	—	—	£19,782

A year in which George Freeman 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, 2017-18

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£147,947

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Stationery Purchase	36	£5,339
Const Office Rent	11	£4,100
Professional Services: Direct	1	£2,680
Website - Hosting	3	£1,892
Website - Design/Production	1	£696
Newspapers/Journals	9	£693

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	12	£23,428
Ground Rent	1	£2,121

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£4,462

Largest claims, 2017-18

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 2018	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2017-18 year	£147,947	£147,947
31 March 2018	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2017-18	£4,462	£4,462
15 September 2017	Office Costs	Professional Services: Direct	PRU	£2,680	£2,680
19 February 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,121	£2,121
18 January 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,121	£2,121
18 December 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,121	£2,121
17 November 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,121	£2,121
17 October 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,121	£2,121
20 September 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,121	£2,121
19 August 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,121	£2,121
19 July 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,121	£2,121
19 June 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,121	£2,121
18 May 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,121	£2,121
19 April 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£2,121	£2,121
1 April 2017	Accommodation	Ground Rent	April rent of [*] [*]	£2,121	£2,121

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 George Freeman 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 · George Freeman’s register of interests and votes · Sources