MPs’ business costs

Mr Mark Francois

IPSA paid £2,143,419 against 1,037 published rows for Mr Mark Francois between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Rayleigh and Wickford 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, 2012-13

45 claims, £98,875 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.7£96,88398.0%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.38£1,9922.0%

Every year in the register

Mr Mark Francois’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
2010-1118£72,390£3,497£75,887
2011-1219£92,046£3,104£269£95,419
2012-1345£96,883£1,992£98,875
2013-1444£103,421£1,928£191£105,540
2014-1541£119,260£2,081£81£121,423
2015-1631£96,776£4,404£117£101,297
2016-1722£98,679£1,125£99,804
2017-1857£115,853£3,229£4,744£234£124,060
2018-1974£114,454£2,992£11,800£280£129,526
2019-20116£136,368£4,272£8,070£574£149,283
2020-2168£167,555£5,202£3,693£176,450
2021-2291£170,191£4,898£7,366£326£182,780
2022-2395£184,337£4,534£8,922£158£197,951
2023-24110£196,091£8,572£10,409£322£215,394
2024-25132£224,586£8,067£11,319£852£244,824
2025-2674£6,000£7,643£11,262£24,905

A year in which Mr Mark Francois 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, 2012-13

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£84,973
Professional Services (Staff.)4£6,000
Pooled Services: Direct2£5,910

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Stationery Purchase34£1,053
Legal Expenses Insurance1£604
Website - Hosting2£300
Professional Services1£35

Largest claims, 2012-13

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 2013StaffingPayrollTotal payroll costs for the 2012-13 year£84,973£84,973
7 May 2012StaffingPooled Services: DirectPRU£3,960£3,960
12 June 2012StaffingPooled Services: DirectERG£1,950£1,950
15 March 2013StaffingProfessional Services (Staff.)[***] Jan-Mar 2013£1,500£1,500
1 December 2012StaffingProfessional Services (Staff.)RWCCA 01/12/2012£1,500£1,500
1 September 2012StaffingProfessional Services (Staff.)RWCCA Sept 2012£1,500£1,500
1 June 2012StaffingProfessional Services (Staff.)[***] June 2012£1,500£1,500
9 August 2012Office CostsLegal Expenses InsuranceEPL£604£604
1 October 2012Office CostsWebsite - HostingBluetree Website Provision£300£300
21 March 2013Office CostsStationery PurchaseLangfords March 2013£202£202
20 December 2012Office CostsStationery PurchaseLangford Printers Ltd 29/11/12£134£134
2 August 2012Office CostsStationery PurchaseLangford Letterheads July 12£134£134
25 October 2012Office CostsStationery PurchaseLangford Business Cards Sept12£74£74
5 March 2013Office CostsStationery PurchaseBanner£52£52
5 March 2013Office CostsStationery PurchaseBanner£52£52

Claims refused and money repaid, 2012-13

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £624 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 Mr Mark Francois 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 · Mr Mark Francois’s register of interests and votes · Sources