Office support

4.14Office costs: all Members are eligible to claim for office costs, whether or not they rent actual office premises. Members can claim for the costs of more than one office provided that they stay within budget. For London Area Members, the annual office costs budget is £27,660. For non-London Area Members, it is £24,880. A start-up supplement of £6,000 is available to help new Members meet the costs of setting up one or more constituency offices.

Staffing costs: staffing costs may be claimed to meet the cost of staff who support Members in performing their parliamentary functions. Until 2017, staffing costs could be claimed for the salary of only one employee who was a connected party unless the MP already employed more than one on 7 May 2010. In that case, the MP could continue to claim for the salaries of those connected parties.1 From the date of the General Election in 2017, IPSA has not permitted Members to enter into any new contracts of employment with connected parties. For London Area Members, the annual staffing costs budget is £164,460. For non-London Area Members, it is £153,620.

Winding-up costs: the winding-up budget is designed to meet the costs of completing the outstanding parliamentary functions of former Members, including the cost of closing down constituency offices. For London Area Members, the winding-up budget is £57,150. For non-London Area Members, it is £53,950.

Loss of Office payments: Members are eligible to receive a Loss of Office payment if they lose their seat at a general election. The payment is currently equal to double the prevailing statutory redundancy entitlement.