MPs’ business costs

Tessa Munt

IPSA paid £1,072,141 against 1,016 published rows for Tessa Munt between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Wells CC, then Wells and Mendip Hills 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

67 claims, £134,889 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.	3	£99,606	73.8%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	48	£16,143	12.0%
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.	15	£12,394	9.2%
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	£6,746	5.0%

Every year in the register

Tessa Munt’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	67	£99,606	£16,143	£12,394	£6,746	—	—	£134,889
2011-12	103	£114,940	£20,979	£20,363	£9,729	—	—	£166,011
2012-13	149	£135,327	£20,768	£16,225	£9,930	—	—	£182,250
2013-14	157	£143,727	£22,884	£19,117	£10,415	—	—	£196,144
2014-15	214	£130,803	£27,385	£16,525	£8,855	—	£485	£184,053
2015-16	58	£11,544	£2,413	—	—	£33,596	£221	£47,774
2024-25	157	£93,109	£22,660	£14,403	£3,534	—	—	£133,706
2025-26	111	£3,996	£21,206	£2,112	—	—	—	£27,314

A year in which Tessa Munt 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	£97,237
Pooled Staffing Services	2	£2,369

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Office Furniture Purchase	5	£3,763
Const Office Rent	7	£2,800
Computer SW Purchase	2	£2,547
Computer HW Purchase	4	£1,747
Install/Maint Office Equip.	2	£1,481
Advertising	4	£1,029

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	8	£11,200
Council Tax	1	£539
Gas	2	£184
Television Licence	1	£146
Water	1	£116
Electricity	1	£105

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£6,746

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	£97,237	£97,237
31 March 2011	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2010-11	£6,746	£6,746
8 February 2011	Office Costs	Office Furniture Purchase	2011.02 - GAE Claim	£3,230	£3,230
8 September 2010	Office Costs	Computer SW Purchase	2010.09 GAE	£2,516	£2,516
16 March 2011	Staffing	Pooled Staffing Services	2011.03 - Staffing Claim	£2,363	£2,363
24 August 2010	Office Costs	Install/Maint Office Equip.	2010.08 GAE Claim	£1,475	£1,475
30 March 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,400	£1,400
11 March 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,400	£1,400
11 February 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,400	£1,400
13 January 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,400	£1,400
11 December 2010	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,400	£1,400
11 November 2010	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,400	£1,400
1 November 2010	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	2010.09 - London Accommodation	£1,400	£1,400
1 November 2010	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	2010.10 - London Accommodation	£1,400	£1,400
31 January 2011	Office Costs	Photocopier Purchase	2011.01 - GAE Claim	£900	£900

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 Tessa Munt 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 · Tessa Munt’s register of interests and votes · Sources