MP staff travel

MPs’ staff are eligible to request funding for the same travel costs as MPs.

Staff members whose home is their contractual place of work may request funding for the cost of occasional and ad hoc travel if they travel for their duties between their home and Westminster and/or the constituency office.

Travel costs incurred to attend training events may also be reimbursed.

The maximum funding available for rail journeys is the standard open fare or mileage for a direct trip between the start and end point of the original intended journey.

Read our guidance on European travel.

Evidence required for funding requests

You must retain and submit with funding requests any booking confirmations, invoices or receipts to show the journey and costs. The purpose of the journey must be clearly outlined in the funding request and you must confirm no other funding is available for the travel. Please contact your account manager before submitting a funding request if you are unsure.

Guidance updated on March 2026.

No costs relating to commutes will be paid.

For MPs' staff, a commute is considered to be the journey made to an office that is their permanent place of work as stated in a staff member’s contract of employment. For those on office-based and hybrid contracts, this means their commute is between their home and the office.

Funding requests for travel by members of their families will not be paid.

Guidance updated on March 2026.

To meet our regulatory principles of parliamentary purpose and integrity, the main reason for the journey must have a parliamentary purpose and the journey should not provide any personal advantage.

Value for money must be considered for any tickets purchased. This includes the best train ticket type for your needs, e.g. an advance return ticket may be better value than an open return.

Rail travel

A staff member is based in Westminster. The MP would like to hold a team day in the constituency office in Birmingham to discuss caseloads and current issues, and to undertake planning and prioritisation work for the year ahead with all the staff present. The Westminster-based staff member would like to request funding for an advance standard return train ticket from London Euston to Birmingham New Street.

There is a parliamentary purpose to the day, the staff member is travelling for work purposes only to an office that is not their regular workplace and there is no personal gain, and the ticket type is the best value for money. The staff member can therefore request funding for the travel.

International travel

An MP is travelling to a conference in Paris regarding the renewable energy industry. The MP’s constituency has several large businesses in this industry and provides employment for a significant number of constituents.

The MP regularly consults with local businesses and constituents on this topic. A staff member has qualifications in this area of expertise and is the main caseworker for the office on these topics. They are therefore able to help brief the MP, provide expert advice during meetings and learn more themselves to assist with casework they directly work on. They are also able to help with note-taking and meeting arrangements while with the MP.

The staff member would therefore like to accompany the MP and request funding for airfares. This is allowed as there is parliamentary purpose, there is no personal gain to the staff member and the travel is within Europe.

Rail travel

A staff member is based in Westminster. They are travelling to visit friends in Birmingham over the weekend and would like to work in the constituency office in Birmingham for a few days doing their normal job there while they are in the area. They would like to request funding for a standard open return train ticket from London Euston to Birmingham New Street.

The purpose of this travel has no parliamentary purpose, the staff member has no work purpose to be in the constituency office and this would be for a personal advantage. This funding is therefore not allowed.

International travel

An MP is travelling to a conference in Paris regarding the renewable energy industry. The MP’s constituency has several large businesses in this industry and provides employment for a significant number of constituents. The MP regularly consults with local businesses and constituents on this topic.

A staff member has an interest in this topic and would like to attend the conference with the MP to network and requests funding for airfares. However, the staff member does not have expertise or work in a role where they would assist with casework or research of this topic.

There is therefore no parliamentary purpose for the travel, it would be for personal interest, and the funding for travel is therefore not allowed.

Is the main and underlying reason for this journey only for parliamentary purposes?

Could this be seen as a personal journey with a parliamentary purpose ‘bolted on’ to allow it to be funded?

Are the journey route and type of travel the best value for money?

Are the ticket types selected the best value for money, e.g. could you purchase 'advance' tickets instead of 'anytime'?

Is this a regular journey that you undertake as part of your role that could be considered a commute?

Read our guidance on direct suppliers.

Be aware of HMRC guidance on whether the payment or reimbursement of these costs could be subject to tax.

If you are unsure how activities or spending aligns with IPSA's regulatory principles, please contact your account manager or payroll officer.

MP Staff Travel Costs

This guidance only applies to the reimbursement of travel costs for MP staff members (MPs are subject to different tax legislation).

IPSA aligns with HMRC guidance, which states that travel costs for staff can be taxable or non-taxable.

Tax is a personal matter and while IPSA is not able to offer tax advice, the below guidance clarifies which travel type is eligible for tax relief (non-taxable) and which travel type is not eligible for tax relief (taxable). This is an important consideration, as it can have significant consequences for staff members. It is the staff member’s responsibility to ensure they comply with HMRC guidance when seeking reimbursement.

Travel costs are assessed on the basis that the staff member has one permanent workplace, as set out in their contract. MPs’ staff will be on one of three contract types: office-based, hybrid or home-based.

An office-based contract means that the staff member will work in either the constituency office or in the Westminster office (but not both). A hybrid contract is an office-based contract with an ‘extension’ to allow an option for the staff member to work from home for some of the time. A home-based contract is where the staff member is entirely based at home. It is important that the contract reflects the correct permanent work location, as this will impact what journeys can be paid from IPSA funds.

In all cases commutes and all costs associated with commutes are not eligible travel costs. A commute is a journey between a staff member’s home, or other personal location (such as family member’s home) and their permanent place of work.

Travel costs that may be reimbursed

IPSA will reimburse staff travel costs as non-taxable if all of the following apply:

• The principles of the Scheme are adhered to and factors such as value for money, or alternatives such as holding meetings via a remote method have been considered.

• The cost has been incurred for the staff member's own travel and they are not seeking reimbursement on behalf of someone else.

• The travel has a parliamentary purpose. This means that this is not related to other work, for example party-related work.

• The travel is in the performance of the staff member’s duties, i.e. it is part of their role as agreed and set out in their job description.

• There is a specific business purpose for the journey, such as attending a meeting or surgery. Staff members cannot seek reimbursement for travel to undertake their usual work in a different location.

• The travel is ad hoc and not part of a regular pattern.

IPSA will reimburse staff travel costs as taxable for the following:

Regular travel between the constituency and Westminster for those on office-based and hybrid contracts

Eligible journeys for staff on office-based and hybrid contracts

All travel starting from the workplace will be eligible for reimbursement, as long as the journey meets the criteria outlined.

A travel cost is also eligible for reimbursement if the journey starts from the staff member’s home (rather than the workplace) as long as this is not a commute, substantially the same as a commute, and is the most practical way to complete the journey.

Eligible journeys for staff on home-based contracts

A travel cost is eligible for reimbursement if the journey starts from the staff member’s home as long as the journey meets the criteria above.

A home-based staff member will not have a commute as they are expected to carry out all of their work from home and will rarely attend the office or other workplace.

Travel costs that are not eligible for tax relief (taxable)

All travel that has a regular pattern will not be eligible for tax relief and will be taxable.

This applies only to staff on hybrid and office-based contracts, because staff on home-based contracts are expected to travel very rarely in support of their duties.

Regular travel between the constituency or Westminster for staff on hybrid and office-based contracts will be taxable. This is because the regularity of the travel could mean that the constituency or Westminster becomes a secondary workplace, particularly if a staff member is able to perform a significant part of their role there; are contactable; and/or have a desk or other support that they regularly use.

Staff members are advised not to travel or seek reimbursement from IPSA for those regular journeys where there is no specific reason for doing so.

If staff seek reimbursement for regular travel, we will review this and we may ask for more information. If we believe that the wrong travel expense type has been selected, the claim will be returned and we will ask for this to be reconsidered. If ‘submit anyway’ is selected (with no changes), we will infer that the travel expense type selected is correct and that the staff member and the person authorising understands the personal tax liability.

Both MPs and their staff members should ensure that they can demonstrate that any travel costs are accurate and that they meet the criteria as set out in this guidance and that adequate records are kept (for example diary records, meeting agendas etc). Records may need to be produced in future to verify the taxable status of the travel.

Staff travel costs that will not be reimbursed

IPSA will not reimburse costs for any of the following travel:

• Any journey that does not have a parliamentary purpose, or is not required for the staff member to carry out their role.

• Any costs associated with a commute, or a journey that is substantially the same as a commute.

• Driving another person somewhere unless the staff member also has to attend as part of their role, for example driving someone as a favour or ‘chauffeuring’.

• Regular or routine travel to a secondary workplace unless the exception of regular travel as outlined above (the staff member has an office/hybrid contract and travels regularly between the constituency and Westminster only)

• Regular or routine travel for home-based staff members

A commute is a regular journey to and from one's place of work.

Travel costs incurred as a result of a commute are not allowed under the Scheme. These include mileage, bus or train fares, tolls, congestion and costs for parking.

For a London-area MP, both the journey between their London-area residence and their constituency office and the journey between their London-area residence and Westminster are considered commutes.

For a non-London-area MP, the journey between their constituency residence and the constituency office and the journey between their London residence and Westminster are considered commutes.

For MPs' staff, a commute is considered to be the journey made to an office that is their permanent place of work, as stated in a staff member’s contract of employment. For those on office-based and hybrid contracts, this means their commute is between their home and the office.

Private or personal journeys and journeys between any other home, residence (or another place) and the normal place of work are considered commutes.

For MPs, this includes staying at a location other than their constituency or London residence but travelling to their constituency office or Westminster to begin work.

Examples

An MP travels 15 miles from home to work in their constituency office. In completing this journey they pay a congestion charge and then pay to park in the local car park.

None of these costs are allowed under the Scheme.

Occasionally they stay with friends in a location 50 miles away from their constituency office. As the stay at their friend’s house is for personal reasons, the journey to their normal place of work from that location is considered commuting and is not claimable under the Scheme.

Exceptions to the commuting rule

The only exception to the commuting rule is when working after 10pm on parliamentary matters, MPs may claim the cost of a taxi to return to their London-area residence or to a London-area hotel.

If this journey is undertaken before 10pm, this is considered a commute and is not claimable.

Journeys and travel costs that are allowed under the Scheme

The Scheme allows all MPs to reclaim travel costs if a journey is not a commute but another journey is required for a parliamentary purpose – including those within a constituency or other extended travel in the UK.

If the journey does not have a parliamentary purpose, it cannot be claimed for.

London-area MPs can claim the travel costs for journeys between their constituency office and Westminster.

Non-London-area MPs can also choose to travel to Westminster from outside of London on a daily basis as an alternative to claiming accommodation costs. Due regard should be given to the method of transport and value for money when undertaking this journey.

Example

A London-area MP travels five miles from their home to go to work in their constituency office. In completing this journey, they pay a congestion charge and then pay to park in the local car park. None of these costs are allowed under the Scheme because they are part of a commute.

During the day they leave their constituency office to travel to Westminster, before returning to their London-area residence in the evening.

The MP can only claim for the journey from the constituency office to Westminster because both the journey to the constituency office at the start of the day and the journey home from Westminster at the end of the day are considered commutes.

The congestion and parking costs incurred as part of the commuting journey cannot be apportioned or claimed as part of the day’s travel.

If the MP paid a congestion charge specifically as part of the journey from the constituency office to Westminster, it can be claimed under the Scheme.

The value for money principle should always be considered when making travel arrangements.