MPs’ business costs

Jim Shannon

IPSA paid £3,445,592 against 1,754 published rows for Jim Shannon between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Strangford 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, 2010-11

41 claims, £130,715 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	£98,153	75.1%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	20	£10,536	8.1%
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.	19	£4,236	3.2%
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	£17,789	13.6%

Every year in the register

Jim Shannon’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	Total
2010-11	41	£98,153	£10,536	£4,236	£17,789	£130,715
2011-12	80	£122,004	£18,799	£9,308	£26,968	£177,079
2012-13	108	£157,649	£27,361	£12,132	£24,578	£221,720
2013-14	250	£143,074	£31,861	£10,739	£37,966	£223,640
2014-15	110	£159,656	£32,495	£7,449	£51,459	£251,060
2015-16	100	£167,551	£23,400	£5,705	£42,980	£239,636
2016-17	91	£147,278	£23,702	£5,634	£32,967	£209,580
2017-18	115	£150,814	£24,250	£7,197	£50,264	£232,525
2018-19	110	£153,028	£24,167	£8,700	£42,537	£228,432
2019-20	111	£148,860	£23,154	£14,593	£26,539	£213,146
2020-21	113	£163,506	£27,915	£13,432	£24,064	£228,917
2021-22	94	£175,736	£25,792	£16,967	£20,072	£238,568
2022-23	112	£176,967	£28,603	£15,036	£28,443	£249,049
2023-24	114	£197,897	£29,528	£6,655	£38,087	£272,166
2024-25	123	£215,721	£30,434	£22,503	£24,974	£293,632
2025-26	82	—	£12,335	£23,392	—	£35,727

A year in which Jim Shannon 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, 2010-11

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£98,153

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Other	6	£5,121
Const Office Rent	4	£4,000
Install/Maint Office Equip.	2	£635
Contact Cards	2	£458
Advertising	3	£225
Stationery Purchase	2	£59

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Hotel London Area	19	£4,236

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£17,789

Largest claims, 2010-11

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 2011	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2010-11 year	£98,153	£98,153
31 March 2011	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2010-11	£17,789	£17,789
2 September 2010	Office Costs	Other	conversion of shop to new office	£3,295	£3,295
1 March 2011	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Office costs March - June 11	£1,000	£1,000
1 February 2011	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Office costs March - June 11	£1,000	£1,000
1 January 2011	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Office costs March - June 11	£1,000	£1,000
1 December 2010	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Office costs March - June 11	£1,000	£1,000
2 September 2010	Office Costs	Other	Wooden Floor for Office	£600	£600
20 October 2010	Office Costs	Install/Maint Office Equip.	Admin oct - dec 2010	£588	£588
20 August 2010	Office Costs	Other	Painting of Office	£520	£520
2 December 2010	Accommodation	Hotel London Area	Hotel october-december	£390	£390
20 October 2010	Accommodation	Hotel London Area	Hotel october-december	£390	£390
11 June 2010	Office Costs	Other	MP Signage of office, name contact details, signage for surgeries etc	£332	£332
2 September 2010	Office Costs	Other	MP signage for second office, name , contact details	£325	£325
31 March 2011	Accommodation	Hotel London Area	Hotels	£260	£260

Claims refused and money repaid, 2010-11

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £141 not paid and £0 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 Jim Shannon 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 · Jim Shannon’s register of interests and votes · Sources