MPs’ business costs

Lilian Greenwood

IPSA paid £3,037,227 against 2,037 published rows for Lilian Greenwood between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Nottingham 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, 2015-16

110 claims, £174,530 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	£129,053	73.9%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	96	£19,419	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.	12	£19,600	11.2%
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	£6,458	3.7%

Every year in the register

Lilian Greenwood’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	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	167	£82,634	£15,911	£11,626	£4,842	£5,560	£120,573
2011-12	269	£115,540	£19,929	£19,310	£4,939	—	£159,718
2012-13	197	£116,611	£20,281	£19,080	£6,088	—	£162,061
2013-14	146	£137,991	£21,494	£19,513	£7,091	—	£186,090
2014-15	130	£138,788	£20,936	£19,600	£7,027	—	£186,351
2015-16	110	£129,053	£19,419	£19,600	£6,458	—	£174,530
2016-17	118	£140,732	£23,050	£19,600	£7,735	—	£191,117
2017-18	118	£143,574	£23,429	£19,600	£6,610	—	£193,213
2018-19	107	£147,145	£22,790	£20,863	£7,678	—	£198,477
2019-20	144	£149,789	£21,892	£20,900	£4,320	—	£196,902
2020-21	127	£172,907	£20,524	£19,158	£1,998	—	£214,588
2021-22	81	£200,665	£26,152	£19,733	£3,826	—	£250,377
2022-23	89	£191,822	£20,499	£21,883	£4,083	—	£238,287
2023-24	110	£205,008	£23,705	£25,767	£4,879	—	£259,358
2024-25	87	£234,738	£19,766	£27,190	£5,426	—	£287,119
2025-26	37	—	£17,767	—	—	£700	£18,467

A year in which Lilian Greenwood 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, 2015-16

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£129,053

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	12	£9,162
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	20	£2,370
IT/Other Equipment Hire	7	£1,556
Stationery Purchase	14	£1,086
Install/Maint Office Equip.	9	£1,008
Computer HW Purchase	2	£805

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	12	£19,600

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£6,458

Largest claims, 2015-16

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 2016	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2015-16 year	£129,053	£129,053
31 March 2016	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2015-16	£6,458	£6,458
25 February 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,633	£1,633
27 January 2016	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,633	£1,633
25 December 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,633	£1,633
25 November 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,633	£1,633
27 October 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,633	£1,633
24 September 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,633	£1,633
27 August 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,633	£1,633
27 July 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,633	£1,633
6 July 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,633	£1,633
1 June 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,633	£1,633
1 May 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,633	£1,633
1 April 2015	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,633	£1,633
27 January 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£792	£792

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 Lilian Greenwood 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 · Lilian Greenwood’s register of interests and votes · Sources