MPs’ business costs

Suella Braverman

IPSA paid £1,687,338 against 1,098 published rows for Suella Braverman between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Fareham CC, then Fareham and Waterlooville 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, 2019-20

116 claims, £143,345 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£118,70782.8%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.62£15,99611.2%
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.43£5,7244.0%
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.9£2,9182.0%

Every year in the register

Suella Braverman’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
2015-1679£82,132£14,113£10,734£2,939£4,540£114,458
2016-1793£125,270£17,154£11,907£4,259£300£158,890
2017-1869£136,919£13,430£8,535£3,078£161,963
2018-19115£135,884£16,662£3,897£3,282£159,726
2019-20116£118,707£15,996£5,724£2,918£143,345
2020-21100£139,004£20,261£5,332£1,375£165,972
2021-2298£161,945£11,868£5,426£1,616£180,856
2022-23123£147,486£14,267£5,955£1,887£169,595
2023-24107£157,101£11,665£6,306£730£912£176,715
2024-25148£214,698£17,460£6,408£2,315£240,882
2025-2650£9,415£4,627£895£14,937

A year in which Suella Braverman 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, 2019-20

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£117,951
Training - staff1£756

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rent1£5,050
Pooled staffing services1£3,168
Stationery & printing33£2,223
Equipment - purchase5£1,765
Software & applications3£1,554
Venue hire, meetings & surgeries10£651

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Utilities24£2,684
Council tax7£1,543
Service charge & ground Rent1£1,200
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage10£296
MP Budget Overspend1£0

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Mileage - car4£2,450
Rail4£464
Parking1£5

Largest claims, 2019-20

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 2020StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2019-20 year£117,951£117,951
3 July 2019Office CostsRentDirect rental payment£5,050£5,050
15 May 2019Office CostsPooled staffing servicesPolicy Research Unit (Conservative)£3,168£3,168
31 March 2020MP TravelMileage - carAggregated figure for travel during 2019-20£2,205£2,205
2 May 2019Office CostsEquipment - purchaseComputer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories£1,601£1,601
31 August 2019AccommodationUtilitiesGas£1,292£1,292
21 February 2019AccommodationService charge & ground RentService Charge ([***]) 25/03/19-28/09/19£1,200£1,200
15 May 2019Office CostsSoftware & applicationsPRU PT 2 19-20£900£900
13 February 2020StaffingTraining - staff2 Places on Westminster Skills 'Parliament: A guide for MP Staff'£756£756
15 October 2019Office CostsTraining - staffPARLI-TRAINING£624£624
30 July 2019Office CostsStationery & printingSuperior Office Suppli£612£612
5 March 2020Office CostsSoftware & applicationsCaseworker programme for constituency case management£600£600
10 July 2019Office CostsStationery & printingFCH booklets x 80 and 18 flyers x 1000£543£543
31 March 2020Staff TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2019-20£321£321
12 September 2019Office CostsStationery & printingBanner August 2019£260£260

Claims refused and money repaid, 2019-20

2 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £433 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 Suella Braverman 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 · Suella Braverman’s register of interests and votes · Sources