MPs’ business costs

Dame Meg Hillier

IPSA paid £2,723,291 against 2,085 published rows for Dame Meg Hillier between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Hackney South and Shoreditch 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, 2012-13

149 claims, £160,528 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.	67	£139,900	87.2%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	75	£16,540	10.3%
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	£337	0.2%
Miscellaneous	Claims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.	6	£3,750	2.3%

Every year in the register

Dame Meg Hillier’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	Travel	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	47	£106,747	£5,977	£846	£51	£113,621
2011-12	113	£127,769	£15,253	£1,179	£449	£144,650
2012-13	149	£139,900	£16,540	£337	£3,750	£160,528
2013-14	355	£151,754	£11,848	£496	—	£164,099
2014-15	324	£148,257	£13,647	£760	£1,646	£164,310
2015-16	133	£141,288	£9,628	£212	£2,646	£153,774
2016-17	110	£143,985	£8,782	£71	£1,622	£154,461
2017-18	112	£146,330	£18,359	£179	—	£164,868
2018-19	124	£158,498	£16,267	£27	—	£174,792
2019-20	96	£153,997	£21,481	£26	—	£175,504
2020-21	84	£174,304	£8,019	—	—	£182,323
2021-22	60	£180,917	£7,692	—	—	£188,610
2022-23	99	£194,459	£13,432	£29	—	£207,921
2023-24	107	£241,042	£12,610	—	—	£253,652
2024-25	104	£262,132	£11,964	—	—	£274,096
2025-26	68	£13,200	£32,885	—	—	£46,085

A year in which Dame Meg Hillier 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 type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£138,537
Professional Services (Staff.)	2	£1,041
Food & Drink Int/Volntr	45	£178
Public Tr UND Int/Volntr	19	£144

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Postage Purchase	10	£7,540
Training MP Staff	6	£3,180
Stationery Purchase	18	£1,851
Advertising	2	£922
Professional Services	2	£700
Legal Expenses Insurance	1	£604

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£337

Miscellaneous

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Contingency	6	£3,750

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.

Date	Category	Cost type	Description	Claimed	Paid
31 March 2013	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2012-13 year	£138,537	£138,537
21 March 2013	Miscellaneous Expenses	Contingency	Sickness cover	£1,747	£1,747
22 February 2013	Office Costs	Training MP Staff	Training	£1,200	£1,200
19 April 2012	Office Costs	Postage Purchase	Postage	£1,080	£1,080
16 April 2012	Office Costs	Postage Purchase	Postage	£1,080	£1,080
2 April 2012	Office Costs	Postage Purchase	postage	£1,080	£1,080
13 March 2013	Office Costs	Postage Purchase	Stamps	£1,000	£1,000
19 February 2013	Office Costs	Postage Purchase	Postage	£1,000	£1,000
13 December 2012	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Office support	£960	£960
9 August 2012	Office Costs	Training MP Staff	Staff training	£750	£750
9 August 2012	Office Costs	Legal Expenses Insurance	EPL	£604	£604
25 January 2013	Office Costs	Training MP Staff	Training	£600	£600
30 November 2012	Office Costs	Advertising	Surgery calendars	£554	£554
7 March 2013	Office Costs	Postage Purchase	Stamps	£500	£500
8 February 2013	Office Costs	Postage Purchase	Stamps	£500	£500

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 Dame Meg Hillier 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 · Dame Meg Hillier’s register of interests and votes · Sources