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, 2025-26

89 claims, £23,256 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.

CategoryWhat it coversClaimsPaidShare
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.64£16,67971.7%
AccommodationThe 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.24£5,91125.4%
MiscellaneousClaims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.1£6662.9%

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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsAccommodationTravelStarting up and winding upMiscellaneousTotal
2015-1679£108,447£9,117£17,073£6,780£3,259£3,311£147,987
2016-1760£140,158£12,436£18,635£6,147£177,376
2017-1893£148,129£11,524£32,155£5,690£197,498
2018-19100£149,378£12,529£32,245£5,710£199,862
2019-20110£145,644£12,953£32,314£7,117£198,028
2020-21124£165,656£15,893£32,502£629£214,680
2021-22113£158,305£15,469£31,400£4,588£209,762
2022-23122£164,339£18,796£32,997£4,756£220,888
2023-24143£179,798£22,228£33,658£4,455£4,269£244,408
2024-25159£210,880£20,700£33,514£5,580£3,535£274,210
2025-2689£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, 2025-26

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

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Utilities17£4,829
Postage & couriers2£3,927
Stationery & printing9£2,308
Advertising and contact cards6£2,178
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage22£1,478
Software & applications2£1,342

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Council tax10£3,099
Utilities14£2,812

Miscellaneous

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Bought-in services1£666

Largest claims, 2025-26

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.

DateCategoryCost typeDescriptionClaimedPaid
25 February 2026Office CostsPostage & couriersPostage of product.£3,807£3,807
25 February 2026Office CostsStationery & printingPrinting of product.£925£925
30 January 2026Office CostsSoftware & applicationsELECTED TECHNOLOGIES£738£738
26 June 2025Office CostsUtilitiesElectricity£726£726
10 December 2025Office CostsAdvertising and contact cardsTHE BLACKMORE VALE£720£720
30 April 2025MiscellaneousBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£666£666
16 December 2025Office CostsUtilitiesElectricity£645£645
13 October 2025Office CostsUtilitiesElectricity£645£645
6 March 2025Office CostsSoftware & applicationsELECTED TECHNOLOGIES [200011726-2741] [200011800-158]£604£604
30 January 2026Office CostsUtilitiesOther fuel£529£529
30 January 2026AccommodationUtilitiesOther fuel£529£529
4 December 2025AccommodationUtilitiesOther fuel£473£473
4 December 2025Office CostsUtilitiesOther fuel£473£473
25 April 2025AccommodationUtilitiesOther fuel£445£445
25 April 2025Office CostsUtilitiesOther fuel£445£445

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