MPs’ business costs

Seema Malhotra

IPSA paid £2,709,790 against 2,124 published rows for Seema Malhotra between 2011-12 and 2025-26 as the member for Feltham and Heston 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

158 claims, £195,097 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.	41	£170,466	87.4%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	109	£24,094	12.3%
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.	8	£536	0.3%

Every year in the register

Seema Malhotra’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2011-12 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	Starting up and winding up	Miscellaneous	Total
2011-12	4	£16,673	£615	—	—	—	£17,288
2012-13	237	£109,370	£17,596	£145	£1,556	—	£128,666
2013-14	169	£142,281	£18,023	£298	—	—	£160,602
2014-15	113	£145,426	£25,821	£689	—	£503	£172,439
2015-16	170	£144,795	£25,236	—	—	—	£170,031
2016-17	140	£146,863	£25,462	£350	—	—	£172,675
2017-18	135	£161,114	£26,475	£241	—	—	£187,829
2018-19	202	£159,199	£18,889	£974	—	£1,069	£180,131
2019-20	158	£170,466	£24,094	£536	—	—	£195,097
2020-21	97	£203,154	£29,049	—	—	—	£232,203
2021-22	105	£218,187	£37,794	£339	—	£2,993	£259,314
2022-23	178	£231,556	£26,018	£5,705	—	£1,440	£264,720
2023-24	187	£259,214	£34,935	£3,294	—	—	£297,443
2024-25	155	£222,976	£32,739	£629	—	—	£256,343
2025-26	74	£4,119	£10,889	—	—	—	£15,009

A year in which Seema Malhotra 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	£155,225
Bought-in services	14	£11,073
Pooled staffing services	1	£3,600
Volunteer - agreed arrangement costs	23	£423
Training - staff	2	£146

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	13	£7,150
Bought-in services	8	£5,235
Equipment - purchase	8	£3,435
Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs	2	£2,982
Stationery & printing	29	£2,303
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	14	£738

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Air travel	1	£285
Taxi	1	£86
Rail	1	£72
Hotel - London	1	£38
Subsistence	1	£25
Parking	1	£12

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	£155,225	£155,225
3 June 2019	Staffing	Pooled staffing services	Parliamentary Research Service (Labour)	£3,600	£3,600
15 April 2019	Office Costs	Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs	Renovations to constituency office	£2,940	£2,940
9 April 2019	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Office furniture	£2,852	£2,852
30 March 2020	Office Costs	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£2,500	£2,500
31 March 2020	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£2,000	£2,000
31 March 2020	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,426	£1,426
6 February 2020	Office Costs	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,180	£1,180
31 March 2020	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,000	£1,000
2 October 2019	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£825	£825
3 July 2019	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£815	£815
30 October 2019	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£810	£810
16 August 2019	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£751	£751
13 June 2019	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£751	£751
16 September 2019	Staffing	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£743	£743

Claims refused and money repaid, 2019-20

4 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £2,500 not paid and £284 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 Seema Malhotra 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 · Seema Malhotra’s register of interests and votes · Sources