MPs’ business costs

James Wild

IPSA paid £1,001,324 against 586 published rows for James Wild between 2019-20 and 2025-26 as the member for North West 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, 2020-21

116 claims, £168,316 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.3£139,55082.9%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.86£17,35210.3%
AccommodationThe 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.22£7,9824.7%
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.5£3,4312.0%

Every year in the register

James Wild’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 costsAccommodationTravelTotal
2019-2036£23,324£3,202£4,006£1,043£31,575
2020-21116£139,550£17,352£7,982£3,431£168,316
2021-2277£142,915£14,257£4,366£2,458£163,996
2022-2390£159,945£16,613£4,730£3,380£184,669
2023-2499£183,759£12,813£5,389£3,871£205,832
2024-25107£199,922£21,977£4,591£2,669£229,159
2025-2661£13,541£4,236£17,777

A year in which James Wild 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£136,063
Pooled staffing services1£3,049
Training - staff1£439

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent12£8,090
Stationery & printing39£4,220
Software & applications3£1,431
Working From Home Allowance1£1,143
Training - staff1£511
Newspapers, journals, magazines4£483

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent6£5,370
Council tax5£1,568
Utilities11£1,044

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Mileage - car2£2,347
Parking1£925
Rail1£106
Other public transport1£53

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£136,063£136,063
27 May 2020StaffingPooled staffing servicesPolicy Research Unit (Conservative)£3,049£3,049
31 March 2021MP TravelMileage - carAggregated figure for travel during 2020-21£2,245£2,245
31 March 2021Office CostsWorking From Home AllowanceAggregated figure for 2020-21£1,143£1,143
31 March 2021MP TravelParkingAggregated figure for travel during 2020-21£925£925
8 April 2020Office CostsSoftware & applicationsELECTED TECHNOLOGIES£900£900
25 October 2020AccommodationRent£895£895
27 September 2020AccommodationRent£895£895
23 August 2020AccommodationRent£895£895
24 July 2020AccommodationRent£895£895
27 May 2020AccommodationRent£895£895
29 April 2020AccommodationRent£895£895
11 September 2020AccommodationCouncil taxBOROUGH COUNCIL OF KIN£705£705
4 March 2021Office CostsRent£690£690
4 February 2021Office CostsRent£690£690

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 Wild 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 Wild’s register of interests and votes · Sources