MPs’ business costs

Dame Siobhain McDonagh

IPSA paid £3,044,708 against 1,247 published rows for Dame Siobhain McDonagh between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Mitcham and Morden 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, 2017-18

108 claims, £185,659 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.	38	£160,330	86.4%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	69	£25,238	13.6%
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	£92	0.0%

Every year in the register

Dame Siobhain McDonagh’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	Travel	Total
2010-11	53	£99,106	£19,774	£529	£119,409
2011-12	73	£126,407	£22,929	£503	£149,839
2012-13	64	£142,704	£23,873	£469	£167,046
2013-14	138	£143,524	£24,234	£306	£168,064
2014-15	69	£144,991	£21,717	£200	£166,909
2015-16	42	£150,032	£18,716	£54	£168,801
2016-17	66	£148,500	£25,764	—	£174,264
2017-18	108	£160,330	£25,238	£92	£185,659
2018-19	92	£164,460	£27,227	—	£191,687
2019-20	106	£166,669	£28,695	—	£195,364
2020-21	56	£203,762	£22,944	—	£226,706
2021-22	62	£215,697	£33,299	—	£248,996
2022-23	62	£236,802	£23,988	—	£260,791
2023-24	72	£252,576	£34,299	—	£286,875
2024-25	106	£256,100	£39,609	—	£295,709
2025-26	78	£14,050	£24,538	—	£38,588

A year in which Dame Siobhain McDonagh 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, 2017-18

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£150,271
Professional Services (Staff.)	4	£10,000
Public Tr BUS Volunteer	18	£26
Public Tr RAIL Volunteer - SG	7	£18
Public Tr UND Volunteer	8	£16

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	12	£12,600
Other Equip Purchase	9	£5,166
Stationery Purchase	22	£2,814
Computer HW Purchase	1	£946
Training MP Staff	1	£877
Postage Purchase	3	£842

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£92

Largest claims, 2017-18

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 2018	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2017-18 year	£150,271	£150,271
4 January 2018	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Bought in office manager Q4	£2,500	£2,500
22 September 2017	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Bought in office manager Q3	£2,500	£2,500
5 July 2017	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Bought in office manager Q2	£2,500	£2,500
7 April 2017	Staffing	Professional Services (Staff.)	Bought in office manager Q1	£2,500	£2,500
17 March 2018	Office Costs	Other Equip Purchase	Riso Lease	£2,271	£2,271
11 January 2018	Office Costs	Other Equip Purchase	PA system	£1,762	£1,762
27 February 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Constituency Office Rent	£1,050	£1,050
5 February 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Constituency Office Rent Feb	£1,050	£1,050
4 January 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Constituency Office Rent	£1,050	£1,050
6 December 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Office Rent December 2017	£1,050	£1,050
13 November 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Office Rent November 2017	£1,050	£1,050
4 October 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Office Rent October 2017	£1,050	£1,050
8 September 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Office Rent September 2017	£1,050	£1,050
22 August 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Office Rent August 2017	£1,050	£1,050

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 Dame Siobhain McDonagh 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 · Dame Siobhain McDonagh’s register of interests and votes · Sources