MPs’ business costs

James Cartlidge

IPSA paid £1,906,118 against 1,338 published rows for James Cartlidge between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for South Suffolk 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, 2024-25

145 claims, £281,289 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.	6	£223,999	79.6%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	103	£14,889	5.3%
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.	16	£36,599	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.	20	£5,803	2.1%

Every year in the register

James Cartlidge’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	Total
2015-16	150	£83,093	£10,812	£9,713	£4,153	£4,280	£112,051
2016-17	165	£126,241	£14,100	£12,610	£5,188	£1,096	£159,235
2017-18	117	£110,853	£16,608	£12,090	£4,840	—	£144,391
2018-19	125	£133,124	£18,874	£32,392	£6,226	—	£190,616
2019-20	144	£137,199	£18,421	£32,874	£6,283	—	£194,777
2020-21	81	£148,885	£16,801	£31,346	£3,001	—	£200,032
2021-22	107	£157,238	£18,484	£34,370	£3,966	—	£214,058
2022-23	112	£152,846	£9,446	£31,818	£5,308	—	£199,418
2023-24	157	£143,062	£15,657	£36,767	£4,004	—	£199,491
2024-25	145	£223,999	£14,889	£36,599	£5,803	—	£281,289
2025-26	35	—	£6,478	£4,282	—	—	£10,760

A year in which James Cartlidge 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, 2024-25

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£220,228
Pooled staffing services	1	£3,548
Working From Home Allowance	1	£185
Volunteer - agreed arrangement costs	3	£38

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Stationery & printing	46	£5,064
Advertising and contact cards	5	£2,527
Equipment - purchase	10	£2,140
Pooled staffing services	1	£1,715
Venue hire, meetings & surgeries	19	£1,036
Training - staff	2	£898

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	1	£33,802
Council tax	1	£1,622
Utilities	14	£1,175

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rail	4	£3,577
Mileage - car	5	£1,756
Air travel	1	£130
Other public transport	4	£126
Congestion charge & toll	2	£120
Parking	3	£63

Largest claims, 2024-25

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 2025	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2024-25 year	£220,228	£220,228
31 March 2025	Accommodation	Rent	Aggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2024-25	£33,802	£33,802
22 April 2024	Staffing	Pooled staffing services	Policy Research Unit (Conservative)	£3,548	£3,548
31 March 2025	MP Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2024-25	£1,869	£1,869
16 August 2024	Office Costs	Pooled staffing services	Policy Research Unit (Conservative)	£1,715	£1,715
31 May 2024	Accommodation	Council tax	WWW.WESTMINSTER.GOV.UK	£1,622	£1,622
1 May 2024	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£1,202	£1,202
31 March 2025	Staff Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2024-25	£1,128	£1,128
25 March 2025	Office Costs	Stationery & printing	KEITH AVIS PRINTERS 0 [200011725-6901]	£1,060	£1,060
31 March 2025	Staff Travel	Mileage - car	Aggregated figure for travel during 2024-25	£973	£973
25 March 2025	Office Costs	Advertising and contact cards	KEITH AVIS PRINTERS 0 [200011725-6900]	£810	£810
11 December 2024	Office Costs	Advertising and contact cards	KEITH AVIS PRINTERS LT	£810	£810
8 August 2024	Office Costs	Advertising and contact cards	KEITH AVIS PRINTERS 0	£810	£810
17 May 2024	Office Costs	Software & applications	ELECTED TECHNOLOGIES	£720	£720
6 November 2024	Office Costs	Stationery & printing	KEITH AVIS PRINTERS 0	£628	£628

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 James Cartlidge 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 · James Cartlidge’s register of interests and votes · Sources