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, 2012-13

149 claims, £182,250 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.	16	£135,327	74.3%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	114	£20,768	11.4%
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.	18	£16,225	8.9%
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	£9,930	5.4%

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, 2012-13

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£130,198
Pooled Services: Direct	1	£4,956
Public Tr RAIL Int/Volntr - RT	14	£173

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	12	£4,800
Stationery Purchase	30	£3,347
Professional Services: Direct	1	£2,481
Professional Services	14	£1,813
Other	11	£1,489
Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental	4	£1,473

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	11	£14,570
Interim Hotel London Area	2	£586
Council Tax	2	£545
Electricity	2	£327
Gas	1	£197

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£9,930

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	£130,198	£130,198
31 March 2013	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2012-13	£9,930	£9,930
18 May 2012	Staffing	Pooled Services: Direct	Staffing Services	£4,956	£4,956
18 May 2012	Office Costs	Professional Services: Direct	Staffing Services	£2,481	£2,481
5 March 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,495	£1,495
3 February 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,495	£1,495
3 January 2013	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,495	£1,495
6 December 2012	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,495	£1,495
5 November 2012	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,495	£1,495
10 October 2012	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London flat rent	£1,495	£1,495
13 July 2012	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,400	£1,400
7 June 2012	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,400	£1,400
11 May 2012	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,400	£1,400
11 April 2012	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	—	£1,400	£1,400
21 May 2012	Office Costs	Furniture Purchase	Office Costs 05.2012	£1,066	£1,066

Claims refused and money repaid, 2012-13

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £1,400 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 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