MPs’ business costs

Helen Whately

IPSA paid £1,996,097 against 1,427 published rows for Helen Whately between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Faversham and Mid Kent 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, 2019-20

196 claims, £188,935 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	£133,979	70.9%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	142	£15,594	8.3%
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.	28	£28,978	15.3%
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.	21	£2,585	1.4%
Miscellaneous	Claims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.	4	£7,800	4.1%

Every year in the register

Helen Whately’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2015-16 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	Starting up and winding up	Miscellaneous	Total
2015-16	90	£96,344	£6,934	£16,811	£2,885	£1,325	—	£124,300
2016-17	148	£134,264	£10,556	£19,200	£3,534	—	—	£167,554
2017-18	112	£131,743	£9,680	£26,019	£2,193	—	—	£169,635
2018-19	143	£142,085	£11,241	£18,339	£3,076	—	—	£174,740
2019-20	196	£133,979	£15,594	£28,978	£2,585	—	£7,800	£188,935
2020-21	134	£159,504	£11,026	£41,831	£700	—	—	£213,061
2021-22	114	£165,000	£12,423	£32,025	£2,454	—	—	£211,901
2022-23	147	£176,373	£9,335	£20,364	£3,497	—	—	£209,569
2023-24	141	£198,260	£19,065	£23,745	£3,671	—	—	£244,741
2024-25	143	£225,228	£14,931	£25,665	£3,392	—	—	£269,216
2025-26	59	—	£18,042	£4,401	—	—	—	£22,443

A year in which Helen Whately 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, 2019-20

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£133,979

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Pooled staffing services	1	£3,133
Software & applications	20	£2,783
Stationery & printing	46	£1,806
Training - MP	1	£1,800
Bought-in services	2	£1,710
Advertising and contact cards	15	£1,266

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	10	£26,000
Council tax	5	£1,777
Utilities	9	£975
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	4	£225

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Mileage - car	6	£1,299
Rail	5	£1,125
Taxi	3	£76
Parking	5	£48
Railcard	1	£30
Other public transport	1	£7

Miscellaneous

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Removals	4	£7,800

Largest claims, 2019-20

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 2020	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2019-20 year	£133,979	£133,979
9 October 2019	Miscellaneous	Removals	Removal costs	£4,100	£4,100
9 October 2019	Miscellaneous	Removals	Removal costs	£3,700	£3,700
11 March 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£3,250	£3,250
15 January 2020	Accommodation	Rent	—	£3,250	£3,250
12 December 2019	Accommodation	Rent	—	£3,250	£3,250
15 November 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Direct rental payment	£3,250	£3,250
7 October 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Rent payment- October 2019	£3,250	£3,250
15 May 2019	Office Costs	Pooled staffing services	Policy Research Unit (Conservative)	£3,133	£3,133
25 September 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Direct rental payment	£1,950	£1,950
23 August 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Direct rental payment	£1,950	£1,950
25 July 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Direct rental payment	£1,950	£1,950
26 June 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Direct rental payment	£1,950	£1,950
24 May 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Direct rental payment	£1,950	£1,950
7 November 2019	Office Costs	Training - MP	Training costs	£1,800	£1,800

Claims refused and money repaid, 2019-20

2 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £7,800 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 Helen Whately 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 · Helen Whately’s register of interests and votes · Sources