MPs’ business costs

Emma Reynolds

IPSA paid £1,849,264 against 2,162 published rows for Emma Reynolds between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Wolverhampton North East BC, then Wycombe 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, 2010-11

134 claims, £122,519 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.	8	£86,383	70.5%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	102	£18,301	14.9%
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.	23	£16,097	13.1%
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	£1,737	1.4%

Every year in the register

Emma Reynolds’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	Starting up and winding up	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	134	£86,383	£18,301	£16,097	£1,737	—	—	£122,519
2011-12	161	£114,708	£19,511	£19,900	£3,071	—	—	£157,190
2012-13	188	£132,016	£22,200	£19,967	£3,731	—	—	£177,914
2013-14	193	£127,124	£22,116	£16,820	£2,423	—	—	£168,482
2014-15	151	£135,086	£20,671	£11,529	£4,479	—	—	£171,765
2015-16	133	£135,465	£19,460	£9,785	£3,147	—	—	£167,856
2016-17	274	£141,171	£20,542	£9,919	£3,631	—	—	£175,262
2017-18	242	£120,975	£20,090	£10,596	£964	—	—	£152,624
2018-19	223	£151,559	£23,680	£12,071	£3,825	—	—	£191,135
2019-20	111	£93,882	£14,293	£9,422	£1,204	£33,857	£8,455	£161,114
2020-21	3	—	—	—	—	£688	—	£688
2024-25	271	£150,398	£25,943	£4,768	£3,814	—	£600	£185,524
2025-26	78	—	£8,460	£8,732	—	—	—	£17,192

A year in which Emma Reynolds 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, 2010-11

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£86,248
Food & Drink Intern/Volunteer	3	£109
Public Tr UND Int/Volntr	4	£26

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	3	£3,443
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	13	£3,283
Photocopier Hire	14	£2,213
Office Furniture Purchase	3	£2,051
Stationery Purchase	17	£1,455
Const Office Electricity	4	£1,128

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	11	£14,535
Council Tax	5	£705
Gas	2	£316
Water	1	£258
Television Licence	1	£146
Electricity	3	£138

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£1,737

Largest claims, 2010-11

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 2011	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2010-11 year	£86,248	£86,248
5 July 2010	Office Costs	Office Furniture Purchase	Office Furniture Purchase	£1,820	£1,820
9 November 2010	Office Costs	Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	Phone Co-Op (OfficeTelephones)	£1,747	£1,747
31 March 2011	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2010-11	£1,737	£1,737
17 December 2010	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Constituency office rent	£1,710	£1,710
17 December 2010	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Constituency office rent	£1,625	£1,625
8 March 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London rent (March 2011)	£1,450	£1,450
13 January 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London rent (February)	£1,450	£1,450
15 December 2010	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London rent January 2011	£1,450	£1,450
24 November 2010	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Rent December	£1,450	£1,450
27 October 2010	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Rent November	£1,450	£1,450
1 October 2010	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Rent (October)	£1,450	£1,450
31 August 2010	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Rent September	£1,450	£1,450
4 August 2010	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Rent August	£1,450	£1,450
16 July 2010	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Rent July 2010	£1,450	£1,450

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 Reynolds 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 Reynolds’s register of interests and votes · Sources