MPs’ business costs

Sir Mark Tami

IPSA paid £3,047,389 against 1,568 published rows for Sir Mark Tami between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Alyn and Deeside 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, 2017-18

110 claims, £194,059 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.	1	£141,227	72.8%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	84	£19,179	9.9%
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.	24	£24,947	12.9%
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.	1	£8,705	4.5%

Every year in the register

Sir Mark Tami’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.

Year	Claims	Staffing	Office costs	Accommodation	Travel	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	91	£95,333	£16,359	£7,097	£7,356	—	£126,146
2011-12	121	£102,991	£19,032	£21,305	£7,839	—	£151,168
2012-13	111	£121,698	£21,413	£23,311	£8,348	£150	£174,919
2013-14	118	£119,324	£19,552	£22,947	£8,513	—	£170,337
2014-15	96	£135,112	£13,763	£21,507	£8,591	—	£178,973
2015-16	92	£137,868	£15,354	£19,971	£7,570	—	£180,763
2016-17	117	£143,951	£22,942	£20,785	£7,943	—	£195,621
2017-18	110	£141,227	£19,179	£24,947	£8,705	—	£194,059
2018-19	102	£148,377	£18,187	£24,144	£9,381	—	£200,089
2019-20	128	£150,206	£17,914	£22,961	£7,390	—	£198,470
2020-21	90	£156,059	£22,352	£20,000	£7,556	—	£205,968
2021-22	85	£177,732	£20,978	£22,421	£5,495	—	£226,625
2022-23	116	£207,917	£16,976	£26,049	£9,556	—	£260,498
2023-24	103	£233,245	£24,127	£23,797	£9,333	—	£290,502
2024-25	60	£230,611	£17,516	£29,130	£9,593	—	£286,850
2025-26	28	—	£6,402	—	—	—	£6,402

A year in which Sir Mark Tami 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, 2017-18

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£141,227

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	5	£6,000
Professional Services: Direct	1	£4,800
Stationery Purchase	7	£1,999
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	22	£1,874
Const Office Cleaning	14	£975
Waste Disposal	5	£636

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	14	£22,629
Water	2	£955
Council Tax	1	£651
Electricity	5	£426
Gas	2	£286

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£8,705

Largest claims, 2017-18

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 2018	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2017-18 year	£141,227	£141,227
31 March 2018	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2017-18	£8,705	£8,705
19 April 2017	Office Costs	Professional Services: Direct	PRS	£4,800	£4,800
28 February 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	accom	£1,733	£1,733
28 February 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	accom	£1,733	£1,733
21 December 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	accom	£1,733	£1,733
30 November 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	accom	£1,733	£1,733
26 October 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	accom	£1,733	£1,733
26 October 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	accom	£1,733	£1,733
12 September 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	accom	£1,733	£1,733
13 July 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	accom	£1,733	£1,733
13 July 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	accom	£1,733	£1,733
13 July 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	accom	£1,733	£1,733
20 April 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	accomodation	£1,733	£1,733
20 April 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	accomodation	£1,733	£1,733

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 Sir Mark Tami 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 · Sir Mark Tami’s register of interests and votes · Sources