MPs can claim for the costs of more than one office provided that they stay within budget.
If you can demonstrate exceptional circumstances, you may be eligible for contingency funding to allow for the operation of more than one office. [6.3]
MPs may claim for the costs of a home office if that is where they routinely work from.
IPSA will only pay claims for costs that are additional to those which are part of the normal cost of living in the home.
Staff members who are home-based may claim homeworking costs that are additional to normal costs of living in the home, or receive the homeworking allowance (under [7.17]), but cannot do both in the same period. [6.6]
To be funded by IPSA, a constituency office must be located in the constituency – unless it is a home office.
A home office can be claimed for even if it is more than 20 miles from the constituency boundary. [6.7]
Rent cannot be claimed for a home office. The location will also be treated as the MP’s home rather than an office for the consideration of any travel claims. [6.8] This is covered by requesting additional budget.
Find out more about applying for contingency funding using IPSA Online.
Removal costs for moving to new office premises may be claimed from the contingency budget. No pre-approval is required.
Other costs associated with moving, including any legal costs, must be claimed from the office costs budget. [6.9]
MPs may claim under office costs for 'routine security measures', i.e. not those which are now funded by the House of Commons as recommended or further security measures. [6.10]
Find out more about security measures and assistance.
When submitting claims for telephone calls, MPs should only claim for that proportion of the costs that has been incurred for parliamentary purposes. [6.29]
MPs may claim for pooled staffing services from either the office costs or staffing budget. [6.30] Find out more about staffing costs and staffing costs you can claim.
IPSA will not pay claims for any of the following:
alcoholic drinks
stationery provided by the House of Commons
newsletters
funding of any material, other than websites, that contains a party-political logo or emblem, or
accountancy or tax advice [6.5]