MPs’ business costs

Dr Neil Hudson

IPSA paid £1,077,292 against 575 published rows for Dr Neil Hudson between 2019-20 and 2025-26 as the member for Penrith and The Border CC, then Epping Forest 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, 2022-23

127 claims, £217,512 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	£168,376	77.4%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	89	£20,145	9.3%
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.	23	£15,150	7.0%
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.	13	£13,842	6.4%

Every year in the register

Dr Neil Hudson’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2019-20 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
2019-20	36	£19,358	£5,037	£3,539	£1,959	—	£29,892
2020-21	110	£136,539	£20,862	£15,198	£869	—	£173,467
2021-22	89	£165,033	£18,456	£15,327	£5,264	—	£204,080
2022-23	127	£168,376	£20,145	£15,150	£13,842	—	£217,512
2023-24	114	£173,747	£17,667	£18,681	£11,253	—	£221,347
2024-25	92	£195,248	£20,510	£7,967	£1,265	£882	£225,873
2025-26	7	£1,080	£4,041	—	—	—	£5,121

A year in which Dr Neil Hudson 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, 2022-23

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£165,285
Pooled staffing services	1	£3,091

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	12	£7,200
Utilities	15	£4,447
Stationery & printing	22	£2,795
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	11	£1,256
Equipment - purchase	2	£1,137
Website hosting and design	2	£900

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	4	£12,300
Council tax	1	£1,831
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	10	£572
Utilities	6	£336
Landline phone & internet - installation & equipment purchase	2	£110

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rail	2	£6,284
Hotel - London	2	£2,437
Mileage - car	3	£2,020
Parking	3	£1,726
Air travel	1	£864
Subsistence	1	£265

Largest claims, 2022-23

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 2023	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2022-23 year	£165,285	£165,285
31 March 2023	MP Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2022-23	£4,778	£4,778
2 February 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£3,300	£3,300
28 April 2022	Staffing	Pooled staffing services	Policy Research Unit (Conservative)	£3,091	£3,091
1 November 2022	Accommodation	Rent	—	£3,000	£3,000
2 August 2022	Accommodation	Rent	—	£3,000	£3,000
3 May 2022	Accommodation	Rent	—	£3,000	£3,000
31 March 2023	Staff Travel	Hotel - London	Aggregated figure for travel during 2022-23	£2,315	£2,315
9 March 2022	Accommodation	Council tax	CITY OF CARLISLE	£1,831	£1,831
31 March 2023	MP Travel	Parking	Aggregated figure for travel during 2022-23	£1,675	£1,675
31 March 2023	Staff Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2022-23	£1,506	£1,506
31 March 2023	Staff Travel	Mileage - car	Aggregated figure for travel during 2022-23	£1,203	£1,203
2 March 2022	Office Costs	Utilities	Electricity	£882	£882
31 March 2023	MP Travel	Air travel	Aggregated figure for travel during 2022-23	£864	£864
12 April 2022	Office Costs	Stationery & printing	GBP HEATONS OFFICE SO	£763	£763

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 Dr Neil Hudson 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 · Dr Neil Hudson’s register of interests and votes · Sources