MPs’ business costs

Simon Hoare

IPSA paid £2,107,957 against 1,192 published rows for Simon Hoare between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for North Dorset 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, 2019-20

110 claims, £198,028 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	£145,644	73.5%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	57	£12,953	6.5%
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.	39	£32,314	16.3%
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.	13	£7,117	3.6%

Every year in the register

Simon Hoare’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2015-16 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	Miscellaneous	Total
2015-16	79	£108,447	£9,117	£17,073	£6,780	£3,259	£3,311	£147,987
2016-17	60	£140,158	£12,436	£18,635	£6,147	—	—	£177,376
2017-18	93	£148,129	£11,524	£32,155	£5,690	—	—	£197,498
2018-19	100	£149,378	£12,529	£32,245	£5,710	—	—	£199,862
2019-20	110	£145,644	£12,953	£32,314	£7,117	—	—	£198,028
2020-21	124	£165,656	£15,893	£32,502	£629	—	—	£214,680
2021-22	113	£158,305	£15,469	£31,400	£4,588	—	—	£209,762
2022-23	122	£164,339	£18,796	£32,997	£4,756	—	—	£220,888
2023-24	143	£179,798	£22,228	£33,658	£4,455	—	£4,269	£244,408
2024-25	159	£210,880	£20,700	£33,514	£5,580	—	£3,535	£274,210
2025-26	89	—	£16,679	£5,911	—	—	£666	£23,256

A year in which Simon Hoare 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	£145,644

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Pooled staffing services	1	£3,142
Rent	4	£2,812
Advertising and contact cards	5	£2,492
Software & applications	2	£1,500
Utilities	4	£1,036
Mobile telephone - contract & usage	9	£498

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	12	£25,447
Utilities	7	£3,968
Council tax	10	£2,409
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	10	£490

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Mileage - car	5	£4,370
Congestion charge & toll	1	£1,009
Rail	2	£772
Hotel - European	1	£484
Taxi	1	£195
Air travel	1	£176

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	£145,644	£145,644
31 March 2020	MP Travel	Mileage - car	Aggregated figure for travel during 2019-20	£3,388	£3,388
15 May 2019	Office Costs	Pooled staffing services	Policy Research Unit (Conservative)	£3,142	£3,142
1 February 2020	Accommodation	Rent	Rent February 2020	£2,250	£2,250
1 January 2020	Accommodation	Rent	Rent January 2020	£2,250	£2,250
2 December 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Rent December 2019	£2,250	£2,250
1 November 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Rent November 2019	£2,250	£2,250
2 October 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Rent October 2019	£2,250	£2,250
2 September 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Rent September 2019	£2,250	£2,250
1 August 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Accommodation Rent August 2019	£2,250	£2,250
1 July 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Accommodation Rent July 2019	£2,250	£2,250
1 June 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Accommodation Rent June 2019	£2,250	£2,250
1 May 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Rent May 2019	£2,250	£2,250
5 April 2019	Accommodation	Rent	Rent April 2019	£2,250	£2,250
20 March 2020	Office Costs	Advertising and contact cards	TRINITY MIRROR PUBLISH	£1,140	£1,140

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 Simon Hoare 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 · Simon Hoare’s register of interests and votes · Sources