MPs’ business costs

Jamie Stone

IPSA paid £1,975,266 against 1,735 published rows for Jamie Stone between 2017-18 and 2025-26 as the member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross 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, 2022-23

259 claims, £269,048 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£176,30765.5%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.188£27,97710.4%
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.32£23,5608.8%
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.36£41,20415.3%

Every year in the register

Jamie Stone’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2017-18 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 costsAccommodationTravelMiscellaneousTotal
2017-18123£77,774£23,924£10,377£13,260£125,335
2018-19177£132,520£19,308£21,116£28,299£201,243
2019-20191£125,217£22,210£20,885£30,422£198,734
2020-21130£138,992£22,709£21,086£15,849£198,636
2021-22230£184,705£22,827£24,135£36,230£267,896
2022-23259£176,307£27,977£23,560£41,204£269,048
2023-24308£235,871£29,282£24,707£45,014£18,567£353,441
2024-25239£250,820£28,099£26,645£40,418£345,982
2025-2678£12,673£2,276£14,949

A year in which Jamie Stone 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, 2022-23

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£175,342
Training - staff1£624
Working From Home Allowance1£341

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent12£6,900
Pooled staffing services1£5,795
Utilities12£5,455
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage12£2,270
Advertising and contact cards13£2,125
Stationery & printing21£1,647

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent12£20,800
Utilities17£1,703
Council tax3£1,056

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Air travel8£22,141
Rail7£4,715
Mileage - car5£4,654
Taxi3£2,499
Hotel - London1£2,011
Parking1£1,493

Largest claims, 2022-23

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 2023StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2022-23 year£175,342£175,342
31 March 2023MP TravelAir travelAggregated figure for travel during 2022-23£17,704£17,704
20 June 2022Office CostsPooled staffing servicesParliamentary Support Team (Liberal Democrat)£5,795£5,795
31 March 2023MP TravelMileage - carAggregated figure for travel during 2022-23£2,654£2,654
31 March 2023MP TravelTaxiAggregated figure for travel during 2022-23£2,455£2,455
31 March 2023Staff TravelHotel - LondonAggregated figure for travel during 2022-23£2,011£2,011
31 March 2023MP TravelAir travelAggregated figure for travel during 2022-23£1,933£1,933
21 March 2023AccommodationRent£1,733£1,733
21 February 2023AccommodationRent£1,733£1,733
24 January 2023AccommodationRent£1,733£1,733
20 December 2022AccommodationRent£1,733£1,733
22 November 2022AccommodationRent£1,733£1,733
20 October 2022AccommodationRent£1,733£1,733
20 September 2022AccommodationRent£1,733£1,733
23 August 2022AccommodationRent£1,733£1,733

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 Jamie Stone 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 · Jamie Stone’s register of interests and votes · Sources