MPs’ business costs

Stephen Kinnock

IPSA paid £2,177,284 against 1,361 published rows for Stephen Kinnock between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Aberavon CC, then Aberafan Maesteg 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, 2024-25

109 claims, £311,684 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.1£247,55179.4%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.91£26,0718.4%
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.12£29,2909.4%
TravelJourneys 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.5£8,7732.8%

Every year in the register

Stephen Kinnock’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
2015-16145£107,112£19,265£5,032£6,278£4,582£142,269
2016-17106£119,922£19,461£3,962£7,519£150,864
2017-18124£132,907£21,856£4,590£4,503£163,856
2018-19143£153,247£23,250£19,708£10,116£269£206,590
2019-20136£149,418£22,997£22,848£9,142£204,405
2020-21113£168,584£20,137£22,848£1,927£213,497
2021-22118£161,150£22,560£22,725£3,959£210,394
2022-23162£212,464£25,112£22,848£7,676£268,100
2023-24156£235,783£25,187£26,832£7,154£294,956
2024-25109£247,551£26,071£29,290£8,773£311,684
2025-2649£660£10,011£10,671

A year in which Stephen Kinnock 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, 2024-25

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£247,551

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent1£14,446
Pooled staffing services1£4,600
Equipment - hire4£1,470
Advertising and contact cards4£1,305
Utilities13£1,256
Stationery & printing20£1,006

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent12£29,290

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rail3£7,577
Parking1£872
Mileage - car1£324

Largest claims, 2024-25

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
31 March 2025StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2024-25 year£247,551£247,551
31 March 2025Office CostsRentAggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2024-25£14,446£14,446
31 March 2025MP TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2024-25£6,992£6,992
12 April 2024Office CostsPooled staffing servicesParliamentary Research Service (Labour)£4,600£4,600
3 March 2025AccommodationRentMarch 2025 Rent£2,441£2,441
3 February 2025AccommodationRentFebruary 2025 Rent£2,441£2,441
3 January 2025AccommodationRentJanuary 2025 Rent£2,441£2,441
3 December 2024AccommodationRentDecember 2024 Rent£2,441£2,441
3 November 2024AccommodationRentNovember 2024 Rent£2,441£2,441
3 October 2024AccommodationRentOctober 2024 Rent£2,441£2,441
3 September 2024AccommodationRentSeptember 2024 Rent£2,441£2,441
3 August 2024AccommodationRentAugust 2024 Rent£2,441£2,441
3 July 2024AccommodationRentJuly 2024 Rent£2,441£2,441
3 June 2024AccommodationRentJune 2024 Rent£2,441£2,441
3 May 2024AccommodationRentMay 2024 Rent£2,441£2,441

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 Stephen Kinnock 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 · Stephen Kinnock’s register of interests and votes · Sources