MPs’ business costs

John Healey

IPSA paid £3,345,360 against 3,954 published rows for John Healey between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Wentworth and Dearne CC, then Rawmarsh and Conisbrough 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

222 claims, £255,131 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.4£188,41873.9%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.184£38,14615.0%
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.24£21,0558.3%
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.7£6,2862.5%
MiscellaneousClaims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.3£1,2260.5%

Every year in the register

John Healey’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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsAccommodationTravelMiscellaneousTotal
2010-11250£85,840£19,152£15,532£11,100£131,624
2011-12313£112,197£21,083£18,462£13,924£70£165,735
2012-13325£133,033£25,309£22,060£15,753£696£196,851
2013-14277£136,080£22,560£20,730£11,718£191,088
2014-15306£138,600£23,442£18,899£12,071£193,012
2015-16271£139,797£22,534£20,600£12,268£195,199
2016-17226£156,514£23,378£20,503£14,467£214,861
2017-18227£144,875£23,367£22,396£8,807£199,445
2018-19239£145,217£21,852£22,592£14,016£203,677
2019-20253£155,276£25,661£22,449£13,678£276£217,340
2020-21222£188,418£38,146£21,055£6,286£1,226£255,131
2021-22235£200,526£25,758£23,025£10,827£260,136
2022-23231£221,331£24,246£23,311£12,733£281,621
2023-24281£227,666£34,420£22,558£11,884£296,527
2024-25207£232,001£29,852£25,325£10,015£23,475£320,668
2025-2691£20,977£1,469£22,446

A year in which John Healey 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£181,174
Bought-in services1£3,600
Pooled staffing services1£3,600
Health & welfare - staff1£44

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Advertising and contact cards15£8,559
Rent4£8,196
Equipment - purchase20£6,869
Equipment - hire7£2,407
Utilities18£1,769
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage13£1,544

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent11£19,782
Council tax1£780
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage9£364
Landline phone & internet - installation & equipment purchase3£129

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Mileage - car2£4,401
Rail2£1,142
Congestion charge & toll1£651
Parking2£92

Miscellaneous

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Approved costs outside the Scheme1£950
Website hosting and design1£250
Waste disposal, confidential waste & rubbish collection1£26

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£181,174£181,174
29 April 2020Office CostsAdvertising and contact cardsLabour Party - 45k John Healey MP info leaflet sent out by Royal Mail£7,794£7,794
31 March 2021MP TravelMileage - carAggregated figure for travel during 2020-21£4,158£4,158
18 June 2020Office CostsRentWades Estates 6m Rent for constituency office 25 Mar 2020 to 24 Sep 2020£3,775£3,775
8 March 2021StaffingBought-in servicesOffice services£3,600£3,600
27 May 2020StaffingPooled staffing servicesParliamentary Research Service (Labour)£3,600£3,600
25 December 2020Office CostsRentConstituency office rent 25 Dec 2020 to 24 Mar 2021£1,888£1,888
21 September 2020Office CostsRentWades Estates Rent constituency office 25/9 to 24/12 2020£1,888£1,888
2 March 2021AccommodationRent£1,798£1,798
2 February 2021AccommodationRent£1,798£1,798
6 January 2021AccommodationRent£1,798£1,798
1 December 2020AccommodationRent£1,798£1,798
1 November 2020AccommodationRent£1,798£1,798
4 October 2020AccommodationRent£1,798£1,798
1 September 2020AccommodationRent£1,798£1,798

Claims refused and money repaid, 2020-21

3 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £343 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 John Healey 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 · John Healey’s register of interests and votes · Sources