MPs’ business costs

Rebecca Harris

IPSA paid £2,168,944 against 1,607 published rows for Rebecca Harris between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Castle Point 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, 2019-20

234 claims, £126,172 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.	184	£112,583	89.2%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	48	£13,252	10.5%
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.	2	£337	0.3%

Every year in the register

Rebecca Harris’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	Total
2010-11	23	£70,040	£4,597	£5	£74,642
2011-12	167	£100,937	£5,776	£101	£106,814
2012-13	23	£108,947	£7,615	—	£116,561
2013-14	27	£133,136	£9,577	£29	£142,741
2014-15	167	£117,312	£9,238	£135	£126,685
2015-16	68	£136,744	£5,635	—	£142,379
2016-17	78	£127,872	£9,365	£37	£137,274
2017-18	49	£121,084	£6,490	£32	£127,606
2018-19	168	£122,783	£9,651	£30	£132,464
2019-20	234	£112,583	£13,252	£337	£126,172
2020-21	127	£156,203	£13,917	—	£170,120
2021-22	123	£145,806	£8,861	—	£154,666
2022-23	69	£192,485	£9,959	—	£202,444
2023-24	83	£185,530	£10,487	£75	£196,092
2024-25	196	£200,154	£10,709	£221	£211,084
2025-26	5	—	£1,200	—	£1,200

A year in which Rebecca Harris 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, 2019-20

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£109,044
Volunteer - agreed arrangement costs	182	£1,980
Bought-in services	1	£1,560

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	5	£3,300
Pooled staffing services	1	£3,133
Equipment - purchase	1	£2,427
Software & applications	2	£1,500
Bought-in services	1	£1,350
Stationery & printing	31	£744

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Mileage - car	1	£275
Rail	1	£62

Largest claims, 2019-20

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 2020	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2019-20 year	£109,044	£109,044
15 May 2019	Office Costs	Pooled staffing services	Policy Research Unit (Conservative)	£3,133	£3,133
4 March 2020	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£2,427	£2,427
14 June 2019	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,560	£1,560
2 September 2019	Office Costs	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,350	£1,350
15 May 2019	Office Costs	Software & applications	PRU PT 2 19-20	£900	£900
1 April 2020	Office Costs	Rent	—	£825	£825
2 January 2020	Office Costs	Rent	—	£825	£825
2 October 2019	Office Costs	Rent	Direct rental payment	£825	£825
3 July 2019	Office Costs	Rent	Direct rental payment	£825	£825
25 March 2020	Office Costs	Software & applications	ELECTED TECHNOLOGIES	£600	£600
10 July 2019	Office Costs	Website hosting and design	BLUETREE WEBSITES	£300	£300
31 March 2020	Staff Travel	Mileage - car	Aggregated figure for travel during 2019-20	£275	£275
13 May 2019	Office Costs	Advertising and contact cards	LOCAL AUTHORITY PUBLIS	£270	£270
3 March 2020	Office Costs	Stationery & printing	A4 letterhead	£158	£158

Claims refused and money repaid, 2019-20

2 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £188 repaid. A refusal is not a finding of wrongdoing — most are claims outside the scheme’s rules, or submitted without the evidence IPSA requires — and it is shown because leaving it out would show only the money that went out.

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 Rebecca Harris 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 · Rebecca Harris’s register of interests and votes · Sources