MPs’ business costs

Judith Cummins

IPSA paid £2,293,038 against 1,338 published rows for Judith Cummins between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Bradford South 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, 2023-24

204 claims, £281,859 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.	29	£226,591	80.4%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	121	£23,332	8.3%
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.	36	£20,689	7.3%
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.	15	£9,821	3.5%
Miscellaneous	Claims IPSA records under none of the headings above. Called “Miscellaneous Expenses” until 2018-19.	3	£1,426	0.5%

Every year in the register

Judith Cummins’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2015-16 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
2015-16	137	£100,088	£13,378	£19,597	£10,051	£4,833	—	£147,947
2016-17	75	£128,107	£19,650	£23,635	£9,886	£712	—	£181,991
2017-18	87	£148,371	£15,373	£22,451	£9,007	—	—	£195,202
2018-19	88	£151,090	£21,451	£25,969	£9,521	—	—	£208,031
2019-20	136	£153,779	£27,613	£21,465	£10,745	—	£1,051	£214,653
2020-21	91	£182,098	£12,915	£26,020	£2,689	—	£1,221	£224,943
2021-22	102	£179,486	£26,402	£26,859	£7,925	—	—	£240,672
2022-23	167	£200,693	£23,774	£28,932	£11,334	—	—	£264,733
2023-24	204	£226,591	£23,332	£20,689	£9,821	—	£1,426	£281,859
2024-25	167	£242,156	£27,910	£22,110	£9,647	—	—	£301,823
2025-26	84	£5,691	£4,350	£21,144	—	—	—	£31,184

A year in which Judith Cummins 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, 2023-24

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£216,649
Training - staff	10	£5,214
Pooled staffing services	1	£4,500
Volunteer - agreed arrangement costs	17	£228

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	4	£15,000
Stationery & printing	29	£2,118
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	11	£1,596
Equipment - purchase	6	£1,025
Postage & couriers	18	£812
Software & applications	14	£721

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Hotel - London	24	£11,060
Rent	3	£6,906
Utilities	7	£1,551
Council tax	2	£1,171

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rail	4	£7,884
Mileage - car	4	£967
Other public transport	2	£362
Hotel - UK Not London	1	£344
Parking	4	£265

Miscellaneous

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Removals	3	£1,426

Largest claims, 2023-24

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 2024	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2023-24 year	£216,649	£216,649
31 March 2024	MP Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2023-24	£5,395	£5,395
28 April 2023	Staffing	Pooled staffing services	Parliamentary Research Service (Labour)	£4,500	£4,500
2 April 2024	Office Costs	Rent	—	£3,750	£3,750
5 January 2024	Office Costs	Rent	—	£3,750	£3,750
3 October 2023	Office Costs	Rent	—	£3,750	£3,750
4 July 2023	Office Costs	Rent	—	£3,750	£3,750
31 March 2024	Staff Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2023-24	£2,336	£2,336
8 June 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,302	£2,302
9 May 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,302	£2,302
10 April 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£2,302	£2,302
3 July 2023	Miscellaneous	Removals	WWW.ANYVAN.COM	£1,316	£1,316
11 April 2023	Accommodation	Council tax	LAMBETH INTERNET PAYM	£1,171	£1,171
25 July 2023	Accommodation	Utilities	Electricity	£1,162	£1,162
24 March 2023	Staffing	Training - staff	Staff training - caseworker development	£840	£840

Claims refused and money repaid, 2023-24

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £960 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 Judith Cummins 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 · Judith Cummins’s register of interests and votes · Sources