Civometry

MPs’ business costs

Dame Chi Onwurah

IPSA paid £3,019,953 against 2,874 published rows for Dame Chi Onwurah between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central BC, then Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West BC. 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, 2011-12

151 claims, £158,936 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.

CategoryWhat it coversClaimsPaidShare
StaffingThe 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.10£114,06071.8%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.112£19,08712.0%
AccommodationThe 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.28£11,3017.1%
TravelJourneys 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£14,4879.1%

Every year in the register

Dame Chi Onwurah’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2010-11 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.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsAccommodationTravelMiscellaneousTotal
2010-11141£73,857£14,516£10,442£9,028—£107,842
2011-12151£114,060£19,087£11,301£14,487—£158,936
2012-13196£123,873£18,196£11,361£16,334—£169,764
2013-14179£132,663£17,232£11,137£15,547£314£176,892
2014-15135£141,906£18,467£10,736£11,445—£182,554
2015-16136£135,646£18,482£9,998£11,921—£176,046
2016-17186£137,510£19,532£11,091£15,419—£183,552
2017-18186£136,357£22,443£14,284£15,515£863£189,462
2018-19175£152,418£22,282£13,294£17,377—£205,371
2019-20178£138,316£18,224£12,368£19,512—£188,419
2020-21217£188,531£23,828£13,205£5,130—£230,694
2021-22195£170,440£18,563£14,374£10,661—£214,037
2022-23217£178,835£20,134£15,192£15,484£960£230,605
2023-24274£216,276£30,719£19,014£14,173£816£280,998
2024-25220£237,596£22,830£20,486£22,739—£303,650
2025-2688—£17,200£3,931——£21,131

A year in which Dame Chi Onwurah 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, 2011-12

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

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£114,018
Food & Drink Intern/Volunteer4£21
Public Tr UND Int/Volntr5£21

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Const Office Rent14£5,364
Stationery Purchase28£3,961
Training MP Staff5£2,111
Payment Telephone/Mobile10£1,153
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental12£1,071
Legal Expenses Insurance1£636

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Accommodation Rent12£9,000
Council Tax1£1,008
Electricity11£864
Home Contents Insurance1£164
Television Licence1£146
Ground Rent2£120

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Aggregated Travel Costs1£14,487

Largest claims, 2011-12

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.

DateCategoryCost typeDescriptionClaimedPaid
31 March 2012StaffingPayrollTotal payroll costs for the 2011-12 year£114,018£114,018
31 March 2012TravelAggregated Travel CostsAggregated figure for travel during 2011-12£14,487£14,487
1 April 2011AccommodationCouncil TaxCouncil Tax 01.04.11-31.03.12£1,008£1,008
10 March 2012AccommodationAccommodation Rent—£750£750
10 February 2012AccommodationAccommodation Rent—£750£750
13 January 2012AccommodationAccommodation Rent—£750£750
13 December 2011AccommodationAccommodation Rent—£750£750
13 November 2011AccommodationAccommodation Rent—£750£750
13 October 2011AccommodationAccommodation Rent—£750£750
13 September 2011AccommodationAccommodation Rent—£750£750
13 August 2011AccommodationAccommodation Rent—£750£750
12 July 2011AccommodationAccommodation Rent—£750£750
15 June 2011AccommodationAccommodation Rent—£750£750
17 May 2011AccommodationAccommodation Rent—£750£750
14 April 2011AccommodationAccommodation Rent—£750£750

Claims refused and money repaid, 2011-12

2 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £554 repaid. A refusal is not a finding of wrongdoing — most are claims outside the scheme’s rules, or submitted without the evidence IPSA requires — and it is shown because leaving it out would show only the money that went out.

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 Dame Chi Onwurah 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 · Dame Chi Onwurah’s register of interests and votes · Sources