MPs’ business costs

Sir Roger Gale

IPSA paid £2,678,238 against 2,113 published rows for Sir Roger Gale between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for North Thanet CC, then Herne Bay and Sandwich 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, 2012-13

152 claims, £149,166 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	£116,580	78.2%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	124	£22,356	15.0%
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.	26	£4,821	3.2%
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	£5,408	3.6%

Every year in the register

Sir Roger Gale’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	Accommodation	Travel	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	121	£85,056	£20,276	£4,478	£4,343	—	£114,154
2011-12	160	£108,318	£20,969	£5,074	£5,629	£66	£140,057
2012-13	152	£116,580	£22,356	£4,821	£5,408	—	£149,166
2013-14	117	£123,800	£18,402	£5,327	£5,787	—	£153,317
2014-15	127	£123,622	£20,364	£4,882	£5,551	—	£154,419
2015-16	129	£127,260	£20,614	£5,740	£5,195	—	£158,809
2016-17	128	£135,651	£22,149	£4,768	£5,601	—	£168,169
2017-18	126	£138,607	£18,419	£8,164	£4,386	—	£169,576
2018-19	150	£149,243	£23,799	£7,703	£5,593	—	£186,338
2019-20	151	£162,287	£22,454	£7,981	£5,400	—	£198,122
2020-21	127	£174,107	£24,712	£7,309	£15	—	£206,142
2021-22	132	£155,923	£23,921	£7,737	£3,939	—	£191,520
2022-23	128	£161,807	£24,923	£7,928	£6,324	—	£200,983
2023-24	144	£187,067	£24,817	£8,074	£7,076	—	£227,034
2024-25	137	£205,549	£22,931	£7,848	£7,228	—	£243,556
2025-26	84	—	£16,043	£835	—	—	£16,878

A year in which Sir Roger Gale 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, 2012-13

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£116,580

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	3	£7,000
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	43	£4,780
Stationery Purchase	20	£2,890
Other Equip Purchase	2	£2,017
Other	8	£829
Const Office Electricity	3	£591

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	12	£4,250
Council Tax	1	£302
Telephone Usage/Rental	13	£270

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£5,408

Largest claims, 2012-13

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 2013	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2012-13 year	£116,580	£116,580
31 March 2013	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2012-13	£5,408	£5,408
5 July 2012	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£3,500	£3,500
2 February 2013	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,934	£1,934
23 April 2012	Office Costs	Other Equip Purchase	purchase of photocopier	£1,914	£1,914
3 January 2013	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,566	£1,566
7 December 2012	Office Costs	Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	Monthly vodafone account	£569	£569
19 September 2012	Office Costs	Computer HW Purchase	SamsungLaptop	£500	£500
8 August 2012	Office Costs	Const Office Buildings Insur.	Constituency Office Utilities	£480	£480
15 October 2012	Office Costs	Stationery Purchase	Printer Toners	£387	£387
1 March 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Accomm Rent	£354	£354
1 February 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Accommodation	£354	£354
1 January 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Accommodation rent	£354	£354
1 December 2012	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Accommodation London	£354	£354
1 November 2012	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Accommodation rent	£354	£354

Claims refused and money repaid, 2012-13

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £113 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 Sir Roger Gale 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 · Sir Roger Gale’s register of interests and votes · Sources