MPs’ business costs

Ian Lavery

IPSA paid £3,217,245 against 1,719 published rows for Ian Lavery between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Wansbeck CC, then Blyth and Ashington 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, 2025-26

59 claims, £25,643 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.	2	£4,240	16.5%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	51	£18,389	71.7%
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.	6	£3,014	11.8%

Every year in the register

Ian Lavery’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	Total
2010-11	78	£90,634	£9,081	£18,668	£9,850	£128,233
2011-12	79	£116,058	£17,058	£18,558	£14,184	£165,859
2012-13	122	£132,797	£20,518	£18,804	£14,804	£186,923
2013-14	106	£143,988	£21,801	£19,451	£11,775	£197,015
2014-15	115	£135,969	£18,968	£18,491	£10,384	£183,813
2015-16	111	£139,370	£22,868	£19,162	£10,443	£191,843
2016-17	102	£140,077	£22,733	£19,538	£9,724	£192,071
2017-18	113	£150,869	£21,095	£19,810	£10,506	£202,280
2018-19	101	£153,503	£23,407	£19,841	£10,699	£207,450
2019-20	115	£155,752	£20,045	£19,864	£9,902	£205,564
2020-21	71	£188,702	£9,200	£21,791	£909	£220,601
2021-22	107	£195,683	£22,040	£21,591	£4,453	£243,768
2022-23	135	£219,699	£23,287	£23,300	£6,527	£272,814
2023-24	149	£224,157	£29,106	£23,655	£6,766	£283,684
2024-25	156	£246,913	£25,615	£28,348	£8,809	£309,685
2025-26	59	£4,240	£18,389	£3,014	—	£25,643

A year in which Ian Lavery 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, 2025-26

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Bought-in services	2	£4,240

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Advertising and contact cards	6	£2,600
Waste disposal, confidential waste & rubbish collection	3	£2,424
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	12	£2,397
Stationery & printing	3	£2,323
Utilities	1	£2,218
Bought-in services	3	£2,187

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Council tax	1	£2,491
Utilities	5	£523

Largest claims, 2025-26

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
8 October 2025	Staffing	Bought-in services	Comms & Media	£3,040	£3,040
13 June 2025	Accommodation	Council tax	LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMB	£2,491	£2,491
30 September 2025	Office Costs	Utilities	Other fuel	£2,218	£2,218
15 August 2025	Office Costs	Stationery & printing	K P D CONSUMABLES LTD	£2,018	£2,018
10 February 2026	Office Costs	Bought-in services	Professional & consultancy	£1,900	£1,900
15 August 2025	Office Costs	Software & applications	ELECTED TECHNOLOGIES	£1,476	£1,476
26 March 2025	Staffing	Bought-in services	Comms & Media	£1,200	£1,200
18 October 2025	Office Costs	Waste disposal, confidential waste & rubbish collection	SHRED-IT LTD GBP	£1,052	£1,052
15 August 2025	Office Costs	Waste disposal, confidential waste & rubbish collection	WWW.	£1,052	£1,052
3 May 2025	Office Costs	Advertising and contact cards	Advertising Board at Ashington Cricket Club	£600	£600
19 May 2025	Office Costs	Business rates	NORTHUMBERLAND CC CRD	£599	£599
25 April 2025	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Office furniture	£562	£562
18 June 2025	Office Costs	Advertising and contact cards	Advertising Board at Blyth Spartans AFC	£500	£500
17 November 2025	Office Costs	Advertising and contact cards	Constituency Office Adverting at Blyth Cricket Club	£400	£400
10 June 2025	Office Costs	Advertising and contact cards	Advertising Board at Bomarsund Cricket Club	£400	£400

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 Ian Lavery 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 · Ian Lavery’s register of interests and votes · Sources