MPs’ business costs

Chris Evans

IPSA paid £2,777,723 against 1,520 published rows for Chris Evans between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Islwyn CC, then Caerphilly 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, 2021-22

100 claims, £197,401 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	£168,960	85.6%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	62	£15,266	7.7%
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.	24	£3,965	2.0%
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.	13	£9,211	4.7%

Every year in the register

Chris Evans’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	63	£75,634	£16,524	£12,105	£5,797	—	£110,060
2011-12	100	£106,252	£20,104	£18,681	£7,251	—	£152,288
2012-13	93	£124,211	£20,460	£19,904	£6,739	—	£171,314
2013-14	128	£134,434	£18,818	£20,596	£5,817	£16	£179,681
2014-15	96	£129,997	£12,328	£20,482	£5,790	—	£168,597
2015-16	94	£127,426	£16,948	£21,350	£5,608	—	£171,332
2016-17	95	£116,252	£11,184	£19,836	£6,521	—	£153,794
2017-18	87	£128,824	£12,030	£20,472	£4,501	—	£165,827
2018-19	88	£135,004	£10,168	£21,964	£7,404	—	£174,540
2019-20	105	£148,602	£10,536	£20,156	£6,200	—	£185,494
2020-21	69	£153,874	£9,863	£115	£7,131	—	£170,983
2021-22	100	£168,960	£15,266	£3,965	£9,211	—	£197,401
2022-23	143	£196,373	£17,782	£6,458	£10,317	—	£230,929
2023-24	145	£203,440	£23,222	£16,640	£7,052	£95	£250,449
2024-25	88	£244,432	£16,879	£23,900	£4,692	£111	£290,014
2025-26	26	—	£5,020	—	—	—	£5,020

A year in which Chris Evans 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, 2021-22

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£168,960

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	1	£5,348
Working From Home Allowance	1	£1,985
Equipment - hire	16	£1,816
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	13	£1,468
Pooled staffing services	1	£1,400
Website hosting and design	17	£1,100

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Hotel - London	24	£3,965

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rail	6	£6,317
Hotel - London	2	£1,750
Mileage - car	1	£680
Hotel - European	1	£175
Parking	2	£150
Congestion charge & toll	1	£140

Largest claims, 2021-22

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 2022	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2021-22 year	£168,960	£168,960
31 March 2022	Office Costs	Rent	Aggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22	£5,348	£5,348
31 March 2022	MP Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2021-22	£3,452	£3,452
31 March 2022	Staff Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2021-22	£2,047	£2,047
31 March 2022	Office Costs	Working From Home Allowance	Aggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22	£1,985	£1,985
12 January 2022	Office Costs	Pooled staffing services	Parliamentary Research Service (Labour)	£1,400	£1,400
31 March 2022	Staff Travel	Hotel - London	Aggregated figure for travel during 2021-22	£1,050	£1,050
31 March 2022	MP Travel	Hotel - London	Aggregated figure for travel during 2021-22	£700	£700
31 March 2022	MP Travel	Mileage - car	Aggregated figure for travel during 2021-22	£680	£680
22 October 2021	Office Costs	Software & applications	ELECTED TECHNOLOGIES	£600	£600
16 April 2021	Office Costs	Equipment - hire	Printer, photocopier & scanner	£484	£484
28 May 2021	Office Costs	Insurance - contents	TOWERGATE RISKLINE	£400	£400
31 March 2022	Staff Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2021-22	£373	£373
24 June 2021	Office Costs	Website hosting and design	HIGHSTREET MEDIA GROU	£350	£350
12 November 2021	Office Costs	Software & applications	WWW.SPEAKIT.INFO	£333	£333

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 Chris Evans 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 · Chris Evans’s register of interests and votes · Sources