MPs’ business costs

Kirsty Blackman

IPSA paid £2,153,138 against 1,825 published rows for Kirsty Blackman between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Aberdeen North BC. 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, 2021-22

167 claims, £210,637 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.	2	£146,530	69.6%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	125	£22,003	10.4%
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.	30	£29,168	13.8%
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.	9	£12,930	6.1%
Miscellaneous	Claims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.	1	£5	0.0%

Every year in the register

Kirsty Blackman’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2015-16 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	Starting up and winding up	Miscellaneous	Total
2015-16	146	£82,199	£23,695	£22,764	£18,783	£6,000	—	£153,441
2016-17	195	£139,382	£20,468	£24,994	£14,802	—	—	£199,646
2017-18	193	£125,941	£22,509	£27,651	£10,304	—	—	£186,406
2018-19	188	£138,487	£22,459	£27,939	£21,118	—	—	£210,003
2019-20	184	£135,579	£20,076	£25,152	£17,645	—	—	£198,452
2020-21	129	£130,194	£20,095	£27,762	£1,213	—	—	£179,264
2021-22	167	£146,530	£22,003	£29,168	£12,930	—	£5	£210,637
2022-23	205	£142,813	£22,742	£32,707	£27,044	—	—	£225,307
2023-24	186	£169,780	£22,166	£36,744	£21,859	—	—	£250,549
2024-25	172	£213,507	£29,179	£39,262	£42,992	—	£252	£325,192
2025-26	60	—	£12,615	£1,626	—	—	—	£14,241

A year in which Kirsty Blackman 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, 2021-22

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£135,319
Pooled staffing services	1	£11,211

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	1	£12,532
Utilities	13	£1,647
Working From Home Allowance	1	£1,263
Stationery & printing	17	£1,082
Equipment - purchase	8	£797
Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs	2	£782

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	12	£26,918
Council tax	2	£1,474
Utilities	5	£389
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	11	£387

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Air travel	2	£10,552
Taxi	4	£1,333
Rail	2	£897
Other public transport	1	£149

Miscellaneous

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Cleaning services	1	£5

Largest claims, 2021-22

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 2022	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2021-22 year	£135,319	£135,319
31 March 2022	Office Costs	Rent	Aggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22	£12,532	£12,532
14 July 2021	Staffing	Pooled staffing services	Scottish National Party Research Team (SNP)	£11,211	£11,211
31 March 2022	MP Travel	Air travel	Aggregated figure for travel during 2021-22	£9,192	£9,192
8 March 2022	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,243	£2,243
8 February 2022	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,243	£2,243
11 January 2022	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,243	£2,243
9 December 2021	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,243	£2,243
9 November 2021	Accommodation	Rent	Rent	£2,243	£2,243
12 October 2021	Accommodation	Rent	Rent	£2,243	£2,243
9 September 2021	Accommodation	Rent	Rent	£2,243	£2,243
10 August 2021	Accommodation	Rent	Rent	£2,243	£2,243
8 July 2021	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,243	£2,243
8 June 2021	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,243	£2,243
11 May 2021	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,243	£2,243

Claims refused and money repaid, 2021-22

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £27 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 Kirsty Blackman 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 · Kirsty Blackman’s register of interests and votes · Sources