MPs’ business costs
Steve Reed
IPSA paid £2,513,608 against 1,134 published rows for Steve Reed between 2012-13 and 2025-26 as the member for Croydon North BC, then Streatham and Croydon North 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, 2015-16
91 claims, £168,385 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 | £143,005 | 84.9% |
| Office costs | Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage. | 89 | £25,308 | 15.0% |
| 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 | £72 | 0.0% |
Every year in the register
Steve Reed’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2012-13 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 | Starting up and winding up | Miscellaneous | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-13 | 75 | £33,387 | £2,192 | — | — | — | £35,579 |
| 2013-14 | 159 | £141,696 | £24,882 | — | £4,488 | — | £171,066 |
| 2014-15 | 105 | £142,011 | £23,366 | £54 | — | — | £165,431 |
| 2015-16 | 91 | £143,005 | £25,308 | £72 | — | — | £168,385 |
| 2016-17 | 78 | £145,250 | £25,441 | £21 | — | — | £170,712 |
| 2017-18 | 73 | £156,682 | £22,521 | £29 | — | — | £179,231 |
| 2018-19 | 61 | £160,592 | £24,562 | — | — | — | £185,154 |
| 2019-20 | 65 | £163,954 | £24,223 | £160 | — | — | £188,337 |
| 2020-21 | 80 | £195,716 | £27,463 | £333 | — | — | £223,512 |
| 2021-22 | 76 | £207,265 | £24,106 | £30 | — | — | £231,401 |
| 2022-23 | 92 | £194,785 | £28,135 | — | — | £1,440 | £224,360 |
| 2023-24 | 85 | £234,582 | £26,496 | £444 | — | — | £261,522 |
| 2024-25 | 59 | £257,111 | £35,994 | — | — | £2,046 | £295,150 |
| 2025-26 | 35 | £1,837 | £11,932 | — | — | — | £13,769 |
A year in which Steve Reed 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, 2015-16
The cost types IPSA records inside each heading, largest first by what it paid.
Staffing
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll | 1 | £143,005 |
Office costs
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Const Office Rent | 5 | £12,016 |
| Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental | 18 | £2,987 |
| Stationery Purchase | 22 | £1,851 |
| Const Office Electricity | 4 | £1,750 |
| Business Rates | 4 | £1,377 |
| Computer SW Purchase | 1 | £1,000 |
Travel
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Aggregated Travel Costs | 1 | £72 |
Largest claims, 2015-16
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 2016 | Staffing | Payroll | Total payroll costs for the 2015-16 year | £143,005 | £143,005 |
| 25 November 2015 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £3,000 | £3,000 |
| 27 August 2015 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £3,000 | £3,000 |
| 1 June 2015 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £3,000 | £3,000 |
| 1 April 2015 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £2,087 | £2,087 |
| 16 July 2015 | Office Costs | Computer SW Purchase | July Payment Card | £1,000 | £1,000 |
| 25 February 2016 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £929 | £929 |
| 9 July 2015 | Office Costs | Computer HW Purchase | July Payment Card | £828 | £828 |
| 5 October 2015 | Office Costs | Business Rates | October Payment Card | £765 | £765 |
| 9 August 2015 | Office Costs | Legal Exp/Emp Practice Insur. | EPL | £578 | £578 |
| 8 December 2015 | Office Costs | Const Office Electricity | December Payment Card | £504 | £504 |
| 22 June 2015 | Office Costs | Contact Cards | Business cards | £473 | £473 |
| 11 June 2015 | Office Costs | Waste Disposal | June IPSA Card Reconciliation | £459 | £459 |
| 20 July 2015 | Office Costs | Const Office Electricity | July Payment Card | £449 | £449 |
| 1 February 2016 | Office Costs | Contents Insurance | Payment card - February | £439 | £439 |
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 Steve Reed 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 · Steve Reed’s register of interests and votes · Sources