MPs’ business costs

Neil O'Brien

IPSA paid £1,913,250 against 1,174 published rows for Neil O'Brien between 2017-18 and 2025-26 as the member for Harborough CC, then Harborough, Oadby and Wigston 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

78 claims, £141,366 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	£112,975	79.9%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	40	£9,115	6.4%
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.	36	£11,990	8.5%
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	£7,286	5.2%

Every year in the register

Neil O'Brien’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	78	£112,975	£9,115	£11,990	£7,286	—	£141,366
2018-19	122	£152,900	£17,509	£20,833	£9,501	£3,715	£204,457
2019-20	169	£158,736	£16,749	£28,804	£11,579	£3,072	£218,940
2020-21	148	£172,470	£17,372	£27,024	£4,989	—	£221,854
2021-22	150	£169,648	£18,684	£27,510	£12,556	—	£228,399
2022-23	148	£217,283	£12,224	£27,782	£16,234	£1,440	£274,963
2023-24	143	£222,505	£24,748	£32,844	£15,890	—	£295,986
2024-25	148	£242,307	£25,424	£32,656	£11,949	—	£312,336
2025-26	68	£1,200	£10,862	£2,887	—	—	£14,948

A year in which Neil O'Brien 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	£112,975

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Stationery Purchase	18	£4,192
Professional Services: Direct	1	£2,168
Computer SW Purchase	2	£785
Advertising	2	£558
Venue Hire Surgery/Meeting	7	£375
Professional Services	2	£272

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	13	£10,505
Council Tax	6	£780
Other Fuel	3	£279
Telephone Usage/Rental	8	£239
Electricity	3	£163
Water	3	£23

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£7,286

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	£112,975	£112,975
31 March 2018	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2017-18	£7,286	£7,286
18 October 2017	Office Costs	Professional Services: Direct	PRU	£2,168	£2,168
19 January 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	180123 Accom rent cl tax	£1,250	£1,250
19 December 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	191217 Accom rent utilities CT	£1,250	£1,250
19 November 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	201117 Accom,utilities,Cl Tax	£1,250	£1,250
26 March 2018	Office Costs	Stationery Purchase	050418 Recon card March 2017	£1,062	£1,062
19 February 2018	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	190218 Accom rent, utilities	£1,050	£1,050
19 October 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	191017 Accom rent Oct	£1,050	£1,050
19 September 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	200917 Accom rent Sept	£1,050	£1,050
19 August 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	310817 Accom Rent August	£1,050	£1,050
19 July 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	210717 Rent and utilities	£850	£850
19 June 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	040717 Rent 9/6-18/6 19/6-18/	£850	£850
19 February 2018	Office Costs	Stationery Purchase	XMA Ltd	£836	£836
3 November 2017	Office Costs	Computer SW Purchase	231117 Recon card	£750	£750

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 Neil O'Brien 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 · Neil O'Brien’s register of interests and votes · Sources