MPs’ business costs

Dr Kieran Mullan

IPSA paid £1,284,970 against 863 published rows for Dr Kieran Mullan between 2019-20 and 2025-26 as the member for Crewe and Nantwich CC, then Bexhill and Battle 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

152 claims, £234,786 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.5£181,97277.5%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.106£26,91211.5%
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.28£18,2407.8%
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.13£7,6623.3%

Every year in the register

Dr Kieran Mullan’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 costsAccommodationTravelMiscellaneousTotal
2019-2050£16,692£20,205£3,533£2,736£300£43,466
2020-21123£149,569£25,096£15,553£1,560£5,450£197,228
2021-22122£180,001£24,324£19,348£3,686£227,359
2022-23152£181,972£26,912£18,240£7,662£234,786
2023-24160£221,001£17,416£14,440£12,171£210£265,239
2024-25189£235,823£32,562£20,134£7,101£6,383£302,004
2025-2667£200£11,032£3,656£14,888

A year in which Dr Kieran Mullan 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£174,892
Bought-in services2£3,593
Pooled staffing services1£3,091
Training - staff1£396

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent4£12,600
Bought-in services2£3,032
Equipment - purchase14£1,837
Stationery & printing20£1,477
Utilities4£1,066
Venue hire, meetings & surgeries5£1,065

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent15£15,955
Utilities4£1,339
Council tax2£571
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage7£375

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rail5£4,591
Hotel - London1£1,575
Mileage - car2£797
Hotel - UK Not London1£485
Subsistence3£210
Parking1£4

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£174,892£174,892
28 March 2023Office CostsRent£3,150£3,150
27 December 2022Office CostsRent£3,150£3,150
27 September 2022Office CostsRent£3,150£3,150
28 June 2022Office CostsRent£3,150£3,150
28 April 2022StaffingPooled staffing servicesPolicy Research Unit (Conservative)£3,091£3,091
25 March 2022Office CostsBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£3,026£3,026
31 March 2023MP TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2022-23£2,750£2,750
25 March 2022StaffingBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£2,619£2,619
19 July 2022AccommodationRent£1,950£1,950
19 July 2022AccommodationRent£1,950£1,950
31 March 2023Staff TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2022-23£1,764£1,764
31 March 2023Staff TravelHotel - LondonAggregated figure for travel during 2022-23£1,575£1,575
30 December 2022Office CostsEquipment - purchaseComputer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories£1,374£1,374
1 December 2022AccommodationRent£1,300£1,300

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 Dr Kieran Mullan 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 · Dr Kieran Mullan’s register of interests and votes · Sources