MPs’ business costs

Lucy Powell

IPSA paid £2,438,587 against 1,042 published rows for Lucy Powell between 2012-13 and 2025-26 as the member for Manchester Central 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, 2012-13

70 claims, £40,998 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	£30,274	73.8%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	52	£2,408	5.9%
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.	13	£2,589	6.3%
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.	1	£3,356	8.2%
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.	2	£2,371	5.8%

Every year in the register

Lucy Powell’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2012-13 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
2012-13	70	£30,274	£2,408	£2,589	£3,356	£2,371	—	£40,998
2013-14	189	£135,008	£20,199	£3,464	£7,187	£2,899	—	£168,757
2014-15	122	£136,702	£18,143	£2,581	£7,228	—	—	£164,653
2015-16	72	£125,223	£18,657	—	£8,016	—	—	£151,895
2016-17	65	£139,255	£23,083	—	£7,718	—	—	£170,055
2017-18	53	£146,482	£22,541	—	£8,540	—	—	£177,564
2018-19	57	£163,487	£20,784	—	£10,458	—	—	£194,729
2019-20	52	£155,930	£14,021	—	£6,371	—	—	£176,321
2020-21	63	£177,932	£21,058	—	£5,432	—	—	£204,422
2021-22	47	£188,547	£14,913	—	£7,416	—	—	£210,877
2022-23	62	£217,064	£25,337	—	£9,913	—	—	£252,313
2023-24	74	£231,207	£21,675	—	£10,491	—	—	£263,373
2024-25	82	£202,296	£39,729	—	£12,529	—	—	£254,554
2025-26	34	—	£7,035	—	—	—	£1,041	£8,076

A year in which Lucy Powell 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, 2012-13

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£29,074
Pooled Services	1	£1,200

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	7	£758
Contents Insurance	1	£751
IT/Other Equipment Hire	1	£335
Stationery Purchase	40	£247
Training MP Staff	1	£199
Tel/Mobile Purchase	1	£80

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Service Charges	1	£1,440
Council Tax	1	£353
Gas	4	£296
Home Contents Insurance	1	£236
Telephone Usage/Rental	5	£142
Water	1	£121

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£3,356

Starting up and winding up

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Comp HW Purch StartUp	2	£2,371

Largest claims, 2012-13

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 2013	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2012-13 year	£29,074	£29,074
31 March 2013	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2012-13	£3,356	£3,356
27 February 2013	Start Up	Comp HW Purch StartUp	Purchase of Computers	£1,578	£1,578
27 February 2013	Accommodation	Service Charges	Accomodation Bill	£1,440	£1,440
19 December 2012	Staffing	Pooled Services	Pooled Resource	£1,200	£1,200
1 March 2013	Start Up	Comp HW Purch StartUp	Purchase of Computers	£793	£793
21 December 2012	Office Costs	Contents Insurance	Payment Card	£751	£751
22 February 2013	Accommodation	Council Tax	Council Tax	£353	£353
30 November 2012	Office Costs	IT/Other Equipment Hire	Training and Licence	£335	£335
5 January 2013	Accommodation	Home Contents Insurance	Payment Card	£236	£236
30 November 2012	Office Costs	Training MP Staff	Training and Licence	£199	£199
28 March 2013	Office Costs	Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	Payment Card	£161	£161
28 March 2013	Office Costs	Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	Payment Card	£122	£122
27 February 2013	Accommodation	Water	London Accommodation Bills	£121	£121
28 March 2013	Office Costs	Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	Payment Card	£108	£108

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 Lucy Powell 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 · Lucy Powell’s register of interests and votes · Sources