MPs’ business costs
Emma Lewell
IPSA paid £2,515,246 against 1,811 published rows for Emma Lewell between 2013-14 and 2025-26 as the member for South Shields 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, 2013-14
367 claims, £148,732 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 | £86,538 | 58.2% |
| Office costs | Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage. | 319 | £18,887 | 12.7% |
| 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. | 28 | £20,777 | 14.0% |
| 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. | 1 | £18,631 | 12.5% |
| Starting up and winding up | The one-off costs of opening an office on election and of closing one on leaving. These fall in the years around a general election and are absent from the rest. | 14 | £3,738 | 2.5% |
| Miscellaneous | Claims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19. | 4 | £160 | 0.1% |
Every year in the register
Emma Lewell’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2013-14 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 | Starting up and winding up | Miscellaneous | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-14 | 367 | £86,538 | £18,887 | £20,777 | £18,631 | £3,738 | £160 | £148,732 |
| 2014-15 | 162 | £129,675 | £19,955 | £17,285 | £11,715 | £650 | — | £179,280 |
| 2015-16 | 136 | £120,615 | £19,963 | £18,529 | £9,603 | — | £1,095 | £169,805 |
| 2016-17 | 117 | £125,241 | £22,219 | £18,221 | £12,076 | — | — | £177,758 |
| 2017-18 | 108 | £136,710 | £19,698 | £18,860 | £6,716 | — | — | £181,983 |
| 2018-19 | 92 | £146,913 | £18,090 | £19,226 | £10,562 | — | — | £194,790 |
| 2019-20 | 143 | £150,393 | £21,234 | £20,706 | £10,466 | — | — | £202,799 |
| 2020-21 | 103 | £170,188 | £18,811 | £19,001 | £5,701 | — | — | £213,702 |
| 2021-22 | 94 | £155,808 | £24,575 | £20,856 | £8,203 | — | — | £209,442 |
| 2022-23 | 123 | £184,017 | £21,430 | £22,071 | £16,977 | — | — | £244,494 |
| 2023-24 | 143 | £207,973 | £22,152 | £20,534 | £15,202 | — | £846 | £266,707 |
| 2024-25 | 152 | £231,909 | £29,176 | £19,147 | £18,032 | — | £2,201 | £300,466 |
| 2025-26 | 71 | — | £12,898 | £12,390 | — | — | — | £25,288 |
A year in which Emma Lewell 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, 2013-14
The cost types IPSA records inside each heading, largest first by what it paid.
Staffing
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll | 1 | £86,538 |
Office costs
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Const Office Rent | 7 | £7,387 |
| Stationery Purchase | 248 | £6,652 |
| Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental | 15 | £1,625 |
| Training MP Staff | 1 | £844 |
| Legal Expenses Insurance | 1 | £578 |
| Contents Insurance | 1 | £356 |
Accommodation
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation Rent | 9 | £13,519 |
| Interim Hotel London Area | 11 | £4,582 |
| Council Tax | 4 | £2,267 |
| Electricity | 2 | £253 |
| Television Licence | 1 | £146 |
| Approved Security Measures | 1 | £10 |
Travel
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Aggregated Travel Costs | 1 | £18,631 |
Starting up and winding up
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Photocopier Purch StartUp | 1 | £1,914 |
| Office Furn Purch StartUp | 5 | £864 |
| Tel/Mobile Purch StartUp | 4 | £716 |
| Install Office Equip. StartUp | 2 | £197 |
| Office Alterations StartUp | 2 | £47 |
Miscellaneous
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Expense Outside Scheme | 4 | £160 |
Largest claims, 2013-14
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 2014 | Staffing | Payroll | Total payroll costs for the 2013-14 year | £86,538 | £86,538 |
| 31 March 2014 | Travel | Aggregated Travel Costs | Aggregated figure for travel during 2013-14 | £18,631 | £18,631 |
| 19 December 2013 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £2,015 | £2,015 |
| 9 October 2013 | Office Costs | Const Office Rent | — | £2,015 | £2,015 |
| 28 February 2014 | Start Up | Photocopier Purch StartUp | Start up - Photocopier | £1,914 | £1,914 |
| 15 July 2013 | Accommodation | Accommodation Rent | Flat in London Initial Costs | £1,860 | £1,860 |
| 12 February 2014 | Accommodation | Accommodation Rent | — | £1,560 | £1,560 |
| 13 January 2014 | Accommodation | Accommodation Rent | — | £1,560 | £1,560 |
| 11 December 2013 | Accommodation | Accommodation Rent | — | £1,560 | £1,560 |
| 8 November 2013 | Accommodation | Accommodation Rent | — | £1,560 | £1,560 |
| 10 October 2013 | Accommodation | Accommodation Rent | — | £1,560 | £1,560 |
| 10 September 2013 | Accommodation | Accommodation Rent | — | £1,560 | £1,560 |
| 30 August 2013 | Accommodation | Accommodation Rent | — | £1,560 | £1,560 |
| 31 March 2014 | Accommodation | Council Tax | March Card Payments | £1,326 | £1,326 |
| 11 July 2013 | Office Costs | Training MP Staff | Staff Training | £844 | £844 |
Claims refused and money repaid, 2013-14
4 claims carry an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £1,103 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 Emma Lewell 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 · Emma Lewell’s register of interests and votes · Sources