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, 2025-26

78 claims, £38,588 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.

CategoryWhat it coversClaimsPaidShare
StaffingThe 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.14£14,05036.4%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.64£24,53863.6%

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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsTravelTotal
2010-1153£99,106£19,774£529£119,409
2011-1273£126,407£22,929£503£149,839
2012-1364£142,704£23,873£469£167,046
2013-14138£143,524£24,234£306£168,064
2014-1569£144,991£21,717£200£166,909
2015-1642£150,032£18,716£54£168,801
2016-1766£148,500£25,764£174,264
2017-18108£160,330£25,238£92£185,659
2018-1992£164,460£27,227£191,687
2019-20106£166,669£28,695£195,364
2020-2156£203,762£22,944£226,706
2021-2262£215,697£33,299£248,996
2022-2362£236,802£23,988£260,791
2023-2472£252,576£34,299£286,875
2024-25106£256,100£39,609£295,709
2025-2678£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, 2025-26

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Bought-in services13£13,000
Training - staff1£1,050

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Stationery & printing29£14,390
Software & applications18£3,631
Equipment - hire5£2,695
Bought-in services2£2,000
Venue hire, meetings & surgeries5£686
Website hosting and design2£625

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
17 March 2026Office CostsStationery & printingWelcome booklet 2026£4,665£4,665
22 July 2025StaffingBought-in servicesComms & Media£2,000£2,000
21 May 2025StaffingTraining - staffParli training invoice 19th May 2025£1,050£1,050
17 March 2026StaffingBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£1,000£1,000
23 February 2026Office CostsBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£1,000£1,000
23 January 2026StaffingBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£1,000£1,000
8 January 2026StaffingBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£1,000£1,000
17 November 2025Office CostsBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£1,000£1,000
24 October 2025StaffingBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£1,000£1,000
22 September 2025StaffingBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£1,000£1,000
21 August 2025StaffingBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£1,000£1,000
22 July 2025StaffingBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£1,000£1,000
22 July 2025StaffingBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£1,000£1,000
19 June 2025StaffingBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£1,000£1,000
20 May 2025StaffingBought-in servicesProfessional & consultancy£1,000£1,000

Claims refused and money repaid, 2025-26

2 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £1,979 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 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