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, 2014-15

162 claims, £179,280 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	£129,675	72.3%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	129	£19,955	11.1%
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.	30	£17,285	9.6%
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	£11,715	6.5%
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.	1	£650	0.4%

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, 2014-15

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£129,675

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	4	£8,058
Stationery Purchase	87	£5,863
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	16	£2,462
Software Purchase	1	£1,000
Legal Exp/Emp Practice Insur.	1	£578
Parliamentary Accountancy	1	£460

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	11	£14,213
Interim Hotel London Area	8	£1,994
Water	2	£442
Council Tax	3	£312
Television Licence	1	£146
Gas	1	£133

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£11,715

Starting up and winding up

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Website Design StartUp	1	£650

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	£129,675	£129,675
31 March 2015	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2014-15	£11,715	£11,715
22 December 2014	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£2,015	£2,015
26 September 2014	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£2,015	£2,015
25 June 2014	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£2,015	£2,015
1 April 2014	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£2,015	£2,015
9 July 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,560	£1,560
11 June 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,560	£1,560
8 May 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,560	£1,560
14 April 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,560	£1,560
28 January 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,430	£1,430
26 December 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,430	£1,430
26 November 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,430	£1,430
31 October 2014	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Rent	£1,430	£1,430
27 February 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,338	£1,338

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