MPs’ business costs

Pat McFadden

IPSA paid £2,571,114 against 2,051 published rows for Pat McFadden between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Wolverhampton South East 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, 2021-22

100 claims, £181,553 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.5£151,60783.5%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.50£14,0757.8%
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.41£10,6735.9%
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.4£5,1982.9%

Every year in the register

Pat McFadden’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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsAccommodationTravelTotal
2010-11112£73,975£17,440£7,821£5,325£104,562
2011-12146£96,001£21,345£8,906£5,963£132,214
2012-13164£111,424£21,780£9,203£6,180£148,588
2013-14203£102,864£22,040£9,635£7,185£141,724
2014-15144£112,815£20,844£9,679£6,291£149,628
2015-16151£132,079£20,111£9,504£5,715£167,410
2016-17124£127,153£15,454£9,703£5,970£158,281
2017-18115£140,407£21,510£9,975£4,577£176,468
2018-19117£145,209£19,456£9,927£5,876£180,469
2019-20128£152,025£15,809£10,305£4,378£182,516
2020-21118£149,006£18,450£10,703£2,244£180,402
2021-22100£151,607£14,075£10,673£5,198£181,553
2022-23146£168,401£19,103£11,002£4,052£202,558
2023-24129£192,430£18,190£11,384£4,172£226,177
2024-25110£196,993£16,714£13,219£2,434£229,359
2025-2644£7,319£1,884£9,203

A year in which Pat McFadden 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, 2021-22

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£150,232
Pooled staffing services1£1,050
Bought-in services3£325

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent1£6,900
Stationery & printing20£1,463
Landline phone & internet - installation & equipment purchase3£1,239
Working From Home Allowance1£1,216
Newspapers, journals, magazines5£815
Software & applications1£600

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent12£8,400
Council tax12£1,332
Utilities6£675
Landline phone & internet - installation & equipment purchase11£266

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Mileage - car1£4,602
Rail2£408
Railcard1£189

Largest claims, 2021-22

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 2022StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2021-22 year£150,232£150,232
31 March 2022Office CostsRentAggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22£6,900£6,900
31 March 2022MP TravelMileage - carAggregated figure for travel during 2021-22£4,602£4,602
31 March 2022Office CostsWorking From Home AllowanceAggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22£1,216£1,216
2 September 2021StaffingPooled staffing servicesParliamentary Research Service (Labour)£1,050£1,050
1 March 2022AccommodationRentRent£700£700
1 February 2022AccommodationRentRent£700£700
1 January 2022AccommodationRentRent£700£700
1 December 2021AccommodationRentRent£700£700
1 November 2021AccommodationRentRent£700£700
1 October 2021AccommodationRentRent£700£700
1 September 2021AccommodationRentRent£700£700
4 August 2021AccommodationRentRent£700£700
1 July 2021AccommodationRentRent£700£700
1 June 2021AccommodationRentRent£700£700

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 Pat McFadden 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 · Pat McFadden’s register of interests and votes · Sources