MPs' Business Costs and Expenses

Please refer to the rules under the Scheme for full details about the budget and eligibility criteria.

The funds available to MPs are broken down into separate budgets:

• The staffing budget is largely made up of payroll costs, which are paid directly to the staff MPs employ to assist them in carrying out their duties in Westminster and the constituency. The budget covers all payroll costs (salaries, employers' national insurance contributions and pension contributions). It also covers pooled staffing services and expenses for volunteers. Staffing costs account for approximately three quarters of the total spend by an MP on average.
• The office costs budget allows MPs to buy everything they need to run their office and constituency surgeries – this includes costs such as rent, business rates, equipment and stationery.
• The travel and subsistence budget covers travel between the constituency and Westminster, travel within the constituency and elsewhere on parliamentary business. It also covers some limited hotel costs for MPs and their staff.
• The accommodation budget covers the cost of overnight accommodation in either London or the constituency. This can cover hotels, a rented property or utility bills etc on a property the MP owns. MPs who represent a constituency in the London Area are not entitled to claim from this budget.
• The start-up budget is provided to MPs in their first year of office, covering the costs incurred in starting up an office, such as buying office furniture.
• The winding-up budget covers all costs incurred in the two months after someone ceases to be an MP, to help them wind up their office e.g. payroll costs, removing furniture.
• There are also additional one off costs paid from the miscellaneous budget. This covers other parliamentary costs which are not covered by other parts of the rules but which have been approved by IPSA. It also covers any residential accommodation costs incurred in the two months after an MP has left Parliament.