MPs’ business costs

Luke Pollard

IPSA paid £1,939,344 against 1,808 published rows for Luke Pollard between 2017-18 and 2025-26 as the member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport BC, then Plymouth Sutton and Devonport 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

213 claims, £258,079 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.	5	£201,656	78.1%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	164	£25,174	9.8%
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.	37	£20,559	8.0%
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.	6	£6,875	2.7%
Miscellaneous	Claims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.	1	£3,815	1.5%

Every year in the register

Luke Pollard’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.

Year	Claims	Staffing	Office costs	Accommodation	Travel	Miscellaneous	Total
2017-18	160	£112,848	£24,830	£12,318	£6,602	—	£156,598
2018-19	214	£153,315	£22,517	£18,564	£11,413	£40	£205,848
2019-20	204	£143,734	£18,361	£18,955	£9,288	—	£190,338
2020-21	202	£184,101	£23,948	£21,814	£3,817	—	£233,680
2021-22	213	£201,656	£25,174	£20,559	£6,875	£3,815	£258,079
2022-23	228	£214,444	£26,511	£21,866	£10,415	—	£273,236
2023-24	272	£227,754	£27,841	£24,388	£13,929	—	£293,912
2024-25	223	£240,307	£29,108	£25,053	£15,205	—	£309,672
2025-26	92	£1,429	£12,449	£4,102	—	—	£17,980

A year in which Luke Pollard 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	£200,457
Training - staff	4	£1,199

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	11	£9,750
Pooled staffing services	1	£4,200
Working From Home Allowance	1	£2,307
Stationery & printing	18	£1,644
Equipment - purchase	23	£1,610
Software & applications	49	£1,213

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	1	£17,806
Council tax	10	£1,592
Utilities	26	£1,161

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rail	3	£5,975
Hotel - UK Not London	1	£700
Hotel - London	1	£175
Subsistence	1	£25

Miscellaneous

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£3,815

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	£200,457	£200,457
31 March 2022	Accommodation	Rent	Aggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22	£17,806	£17,806
31 March 2022	MP Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2021-22	£5,288	£5,288
27 April 2021	Office Costs	Pooled staffing services	Parliamentary Research Service (Labour)	£4,200	£4,200
31 March 2022	Miscellaneous	Payroll	Total other staff payroll costs for the 2021-22 year	£3,815	£3,815
31 March 2022	Office Costs	Working From Home Allowance	Aggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22	£2,307	£2,307
11 May 2021	Office Costs	Rent	PLYMOUTH COMMUNITY HOM	£1,625	£1,625
22 February 2022	Office Costs	Rent	PLYMOUTH COMMUNITY HOM	£813	£813
28 January 2022	Office Costs	Rent	PLYMOUTH COMMUNITY HOM	£813	£813
30 November 2021	Office Costs	Rent	PLYMOUTH COMMUNITY HOM	£813	£813
16 November 2021	Office Costs	Rent	PLYMOUTH COMMUNITY HOM	£813	£813
21 October 2021	Office Costs	Rent	PLYMOUTH COMMUNITY HOM	£813	£813
29 September 2021	Office Costs	Rent	PLYMOUTH COMMUNITY HOM	£813	£813
1 September 2021	Office Costs	Rent	PLYMOUTH COMMUNITY HOM	£813	£813
28 July 2021	Office Costs	Rent	PLYMOUTH COMMUNITY HOM	£813	£813

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 £58 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 Luke Pollard 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 · Luke Pollard’s register of interests and votes · Sources