MPs’ business costs

Sarah Champion

IPSA paid £2,480,126 against 2,590 published rows for Sarah Champion between 2012-13 and 2025-26 as the member for Rotherham 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, 2012-13

115 claims, £42,611 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	£17,152	40.3%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	94	£7,156	16.8%
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.	10	£7,927	18.6%
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	£4,686	11.0%
Starting up and winding up	The one-off costs of opening an office on election and of closing one on leaving. These fall in the years around a general election and are absent from the rest.	9	£5,689	13.4%

Every year in the register

Sarah Champion’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2012-13 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	Starting up and winding up	Total
2012-13	115	£17,152	£7,156	£7,927	£4,686	£5,689	£42,611
2013-14	297	£104,933	£20,719	£19,674	£13,123	£231	£158,681
2014-15	235	£154,597	£20,101	£18,423	£15,783	—	£208,905
2015-16	191	£119,265	£19,801	£15,884	£12,177	—	£167,127
2016-17	187	£141,362	£20,190	£19,661	£10,029	—	£191,241
2017-18	163	£123,646	£20,473	£21,426	£6,203	—	£171,748
2018-19	167	£121,934	£17,245	£22,215	£10,171	—	£171,566
2019-20	215	£132,843	£23,277	£21,624	£9,883	—	£187,628
2020-21	173	£130,582	£22,837	£21,891	£1,669	—	£176,979
2021-22	185	£157,212	£23,857	£22,694	£9,525	—	£213,288
2022-23	187	£167,100	£20,371	£23,534	£9,360	—	£220,365
2023-24	217	£190,246	£27,683	£25,742	£10,221	—	£253,892
2024-25	186	£229,402	£22,961	£27,139	£11,689	—	£291,191
2025-26	72	£143	£23,593	£1,168	—	—	£24,905

A year in which Sarah Champion 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	£17,152

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Stationery Purchase	66	£2,597
Business Rates	2	£1,696
Professional Services	2	£835
Const Office Rent	1	£766
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	6	£323
Const Office Electricity	1	£309

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	5	£6,247
Interim Hotel London Area	4	£1,500
Council Tax	1	£181

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£4,686

Starting up and winding up

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Office Furn Purch StartUp	2	£3,750
Training for MP Staff StartUp	3	£936
Website Design StartUp	2	£604
Comp SW Purch StartUp	1	£335
Scanner Purch StartUp	1	£64

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	£17,152	£17,152
31 March 2013	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2012-13	£4,686	£4,686
29 January 2013	Start Up	Office Furn Purch StartUp	Office Furntiure	£2,586	£2,586
12 March 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517
12 February 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517
9 January 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,517	£1,517
17 December 2012	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	london flat	£1,517	£1,517
20 February 2013	Start Up	Office Furn Purch StartUp	Office Furniture start up	£1,164	£1,164
4 January 2013	Office Costs	Business Rates	Jan 2013 Payment Card	£848	£848
4 January 2013	Office Costs	Business Rates	Jan 2013 Payment Card	£848	£848
30 January 2013	Office Costs	Professional Services	PRS Subscription	£800	£800
29 January 2013	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Feb and March Rent	£766	£766
21 December 2012	Start Up	Website Design StartUp	Website	£504	£504
20 December 2012	Accommodation	Interim Hotel London Area	c.card dec	£450	£450
17 December 2012	Accommodation	Interim Hotel London Area	interim london hotel	£450	£450

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 £71 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 Sarah Champion 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 · Sarah Champion’s register of interests and votes · Sources