Civometry

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, 2022-23

148 claims, £274,963 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.1£217,28379.0%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.85£12,2244.4%
AccommodationThe 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.50£27,78210.1%
TravelJourneys 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.11£16,2345.9%
MiscellaneousClaims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.1£1,4400.5%

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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsAccommodationTravelMiscellaneousTotal
2017-1878£112,975£9,115£11,990£7,286—£141,366
2018-19122£152,900£17,509£20,833£9,501£3,715£204,457
2019-20169£158,736£16,749£28,804£11,579£3,072£218,940
2020-21148£172,470£17,372£27,024£4,989—£221,854
2021-22150£169,648£18,684£27,510£12,556—£228,399
2022-23148£217,283£12,224£27,782£16,234£1,440£274,963
2023-24143£222,505£24,748£32,844£15,890—£295,986
2024-25148£242,307£25,424£32,656£11,949—£312,336
2025-2668£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, 2022-23

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£217,283

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Stationery & printing46£4,167
Pooled staffing services1£3,088
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage17£1,191
Equipment - purchase3£1,136
Software & applications1£600
Business rates1£562

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent12£25,200
Council tax12£1,248
Utilities14£842
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage12£492

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Railcard1£11,882
Rail4£2,346
Parking1£1,233
Mileage - car5£772

Miscellaneous

Cost typeClaimsPaid
IPSA RICS Valuation1£1,440

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.

DateCategoryCost typeDescriptionClaimedPaid
31 March 2023StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2022-23 year£217,283£217,283
31 March 2023MP TravelRailcardAggregated figure for travel during 2022-23£11,882£11,882
9 June 2022Office CostsPooled staffing servicesPolicy Research Unit (Conservative)£3,088£3,088
10 March 2023AccommodationRentAccommodation rent£2,100£2,100
8 February 2023AccommodationRentAccommodation rent£2,100£2,100
10 January 2023AccommodationRentAccommodation rent£2,100£2,100
9 December 2022AccommodationRentAccommodation rent£2,100£2,100
9 November 2022AccommodationRentAccommodation rent£2,100£2,100
12 October 2022AccommodationRentAccommodation rent£2,100£2,100
9 September 2022AccommodationRentAccommodation rent£2,100£2,100
11 August 2022AccommodationRentAccommodation rent£2,100£2,100
11 July 2022AccommodationRentAccommodation rent July 2022£2,100£2,100
10 June 2022AccommodationRentAccommodation rent June 2022£2,100£2,100
11 May 2022AccommodationRentAccommodation rent May 2022£2,100£2,100
11 April 2022AccommodationRentAccommodation rent April 2022£2,100£2,100

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