MPs’ business costs

Ben Lake

IPSA paid £1,466,088 against 882 published rows for Ben Lake between 2017-18 and 2025-26 as the member for Ceredigion CC, then Ceredigion Preseli 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, 2018-19

136 claims, £153,897 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.

Category	What it covers	Claims	Paid	Share
Staffing	The 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.	1	£126,813	82.4%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	107	£14,608	9.5%
Accommodation	The 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.	19	£6,025	3.9%
Travel	Journeys 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.	1	£5,128	3.3%
Miscellaneous	Claims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.	8	£1,323	0.9%

Every year in the register

Ben Lake’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2017-18 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.

Year	Claims	Staffing	Office costs	Accommodation	Travel	Miscellaneous	Total
2017-18	117	£71,636	£14,868	£8,966	£3,345	£467	£99,281
2018-19	136	£126,813	£14,608	£6,025	£5,128	£1,323	£153,897
2019-20	112	£146,863	£14,359	£1,050	£6,035	£348	£168,655
2020-21	65	£148,573	£17,931	—	£1,447	—	£167,951
2021-22	85	£165,981	£19,618	—	£2,994	—	£188,593
2022-23	104	£174,578	£18,818	—	£4,764	—	£198,161
2023-24	115	£207,862	£20,526	—	£2,887	—	£231,275
2024-25	114	£223,507	£19,005	—	£8,284	—	£250,796
2025-26	34	—	£7,479	—	—	—	£7,479

A year in which Ben Lake 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, 2018-19

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£126,813

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	5	£7,200
Stationery Purchase	11	£1,253
Venue Hire Surgery/Meeting	43	£1,152
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	9	£1,031
Professional Services	15	£741
IT/Other Equipment Hire	6	£666

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Hotel London Area	19	£6,025

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£5,128

Miscellaneous

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Translation Costs	8	£1,323

Largest claims, 2018-19

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.

Date	Category	Cost type	Description	Claimed	Paid
31 March 2019	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2018-19 year	£126,813	£126,813
31 March 2019	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2018-19	£5,128	£5,128
11 October 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,800	£1,800
11 July 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,800	£1,800
9 April 2018	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,800	£1,800
9 January 2019	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£1,504	£1,504
31 August 2018	Miscellaneous Expenses	Translation Costs	GDPR Document Translation	£637	£637
19 November 2018	Office Costs	Computer SW Purchase	Caseworker software	£500	£500
9 July 2018	Accommodation	Hotel London Area	July Payment Card	£483	£483
2 July 2018	Accommodation	Hotel London Area	July Payment Card	£483	£483
28 June 2018	Accommodation	Hotel London Area	Payment Card_June 2018	£474	£474
19 July 2018	Accommodation	Hotel London Area	July Payment Card	£450	£450
14 June 2018	Accommodation	Hotel London Area	Payment Card_June 2018	£450	£450
17 May 2018	Accommodation	Hotel London Area	Payment Card_May 2018	£450	£450
13 April 2018	Accommodation	Hotel London Area	IPSA Payment Card April18	£413	£413

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 Ben Lake 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 · Ben Lake’s register of interests and votes · Sources