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, 2018-19

61 claims, £185,154 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.2£160,59286.7%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.59£24,56213.3%

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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsTravelStarting up and winding upMiscellaneousTotal
2012-1375£33,387£2,192£35,579
2013-14159£141,696£24,882£4,488£171,066
2014-15105£142,011£23,366£54£165,431
2015-1691£143,005£25,308£72£168,385
2016-1778£145,250£25,441£21£170,712
2017-1873£156,682£22,521£29£179,231
2018-1961£160,592£24,562£185,154
2019-2065£163,954£24,223£160£188,337
2020-2180£195,716£27,463£333£223,512
2021-2276£207,265£24,106£30£231,401
2022-2392£194,785£28,135£1,440£224,360
2023-2485£234,582£26,496£444£261,522
2024-2559£257,111£35,994£2,046£295,150
2025-2635£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, 2018-19

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£160,052
Staff Training Costs1£540

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Const Office Rent6£12,514
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental23£3,833
Stationery Purchase9£3,189
Const Office Electricity4£1,941
Const Office Repairs1£1,776
Const Office Cleaning4£1,620

Largest claims, 2018-19

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 2019StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2018-19 year£160,052£160,052
22 November 2018Office CostsConst Office Rent£3,120£3,120
22 August 2018Office CostsConst Office Rent£3,120£3,120
23 May 2018Office CostsConst Office Rent£3,120£3,120
1 April 2018Office CostsConst Office Rent£2,104£2,104
20 June 2018Office CostsConst Office RepairsInstallation of water heater£1,776£1,776
5 November 2018Office CostsConst Office ElectricityBill following meter reading£1,179£1,179
26 February 2019Office CostsConst Office Rent£966£966
21 February 2019Office CostsStationery PurchaseFebruary Payment Card£714£714
20 March 2019Office CostsStationery PurchaseMarch Payment Card£646£646
13 July 2018StaffingStaff Training CostsCommunications course£540£540
4 January 2019Office CostsStationery PurchaseJanuary Payment Card£514£514
28 March 2019Office CostsConst Office CleaningChequers Jan-Mar£486£486
20 December 2018Office CostsConst Office CleaningOffice cleaning Oct-Dec 2018£486£486
26 September 2018Office CostsConst Office CleaningCleaing Jul-Sept£486£486

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