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, 2014-15

135 claims, £182,554 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.	5	£141,906	77.7%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	101	£18,467	10.1%
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.	28	£10,736	5.9%
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	£11,445	6.3%

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.

Year	Claims	Staffing	Office costs	Accommodation	Travel	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	141	£73,857	£14,516	£10,442	£9,028	—	£107,842
2011-12	151	£114,060	£19,087	£11,301	£14,487	—	£158,936
2012-13	196	£123,873	£18,196	£11,361	£16,334	—	£169,764
2013-14	179	£132,663	£17,232	£11,137	£15,547	£314	£176,892
2014-15	135	£141,906	£18,467	£10,736	£11,445	—	£182,554
2015-16	136	£135,646	£18,482	£9,998	£11,921	—	£176,046
2016-17	186	£137,510	£19,532	£11,091	£15,419	—	£183,552
2017-18	186	£136,357	£22,443	£14,284	£15,515	£863	£189,462
2018-19	175	£152,418	£22,282	£13,294	£17,377	—	£205,371
2019-20	178	£138,316	£18,224	£12,368	£19,512	—	£188,419
2020-21	217	£188,531	£23,828	£13,205	£5,130	—	£230,694
2021-22	195	£170,440	£18,563	£14,374	£10,661	—	£214,037
2022-23	217	£178,835	£20,134	£15,192	£15,484	£960	£230,605
2023-24	274	£216,276	£30,719	£19,014	£14,173	£816	£280,998
2024-25	220	£237,596	£22,830	£20,486	£22,739	—	£303,650
2025-26	88	—	£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, 2014-15

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£141,745
Public Tr RAIL Volunteer - RT	2	£138
Health and Welfare Costs	1	£15
Taxi Volunteer	1	£8

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	12	£7,135
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	23	£2,592
Stationery Purchase	17	£1,379
Training MP Staff	3	£1,161
Internet Usage/Rental	4	£1,008
Computer HW Purchase	7	£961

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	12	£7,752
Council Tax	2	£1,715
Electricity	4	£720
Telephone Usage/Rental	6	£337
Water	2	£189
Approved Security Measures	1	£12

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£11,445

Largest claims, 2014-15

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 2015	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2014-15 year	£141,745	£141,745
31 March 2015	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2014-15	£11,445	£11,445
17 March 2015	Accommodation	Council Tax	payment card feb-mar 15	£901	£901
9 May 2014	Accommodation	Council Tax	Payment Card Apr-May	£814	£814
13 February 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£675	£675
13 January 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£675	£675
9 December 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£675	£675
13 November 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£675	£675
9 October 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£675	£675
10 September 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£675	£675
9 August 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£675	£675
9 July 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£675	£675
11 June 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£675	£675
8 May 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£675	£675
14 April 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£675	£675

Claims refused and money repaid, 2014-15

2 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £14 not paid and £298 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