MPs’ business costs

Emma Reynolds

IPSA paid £1,849,264 against 2,162 published rows for Emma Reynolds between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Wolverhampton North East BC, then Wycombe 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, 2011-12

161 claims, £157,190 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.	20	£114,708	73.0%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	112	£19,511	12.4%
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.	28	£19,900	12.7%
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	£3,071	2.0%

Every year in the register

Emma Reynolds’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	134	£86,383	£18,301	£16,097	£1,737	—	—	£122,519
2011-12	161	£114,708	£19,511	£19,900	£3,071	—	—	£157,190
2012-13	188	£132,016	£22,200	£19,967	£3,731	—	—	£177,914
2013-14	193	£127,124	£22,116	£16,820	£2,423	—	—	£168,482
2014-15	151	£135,086	£20,671	£11,529	£4,479	—	—	£171,765
2015-16	133	£135,465	£19,460	£9,785	£3,147	—	—	£167,856
2016-17	274	£141,171	£20,542	£9,919	£3,631	—	—	£175,262
2017-18	242	£120,975	£20,090	£10,596	£964	—	—	£152,624
2018-19	223	£151,559	£23,680	£12,071	£3,825	—	—	£191,135
2019-20	111	£93,882	£14,293	£9,422	£1,204	£33,857	£8,455	£161,114
2020-21	3	—	—	—	—	£688	—	£688
2024-25	271	£150,398	£25,943	£4,768	£3,814	—	£600	£185,524
2025-26	78	—	£8,460	£8,732	—	—	—	£17,192

A year in which Emma Reynolds 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, 2011-12

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£109,222
Professional Services (Staff.)	4	£4,140
Pooled Staffing Services	1	£1,200
Public Tr UND Int/Volntr	13	£90
Food & Drink Intern/Volunteer	1	£56

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	5	£6,514
Install/Maint Office Equip.	18	£2,861
Computer HW Purchase	4	£2,477
Other	29	£1,840
Professional Services	7	£1,164
Payment Telephone/Mobile	11	£1,032

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	12	£18,447
Council Tax	10	£823
Water	1	£383
Gas	2	£133
Electricity	3	£113

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£3,071

Largest claims, 2011-12

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 2012	Staffing	Payroll	Total payroll costs for the 2011-12 year	£109,222	£109,222
31 March 2012	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2011-12	£3,071	£3,071
19 December 2011	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Constituency Office Rent	£1,625	£1,625
12 September 2011	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Constituency Office Rent	£1,625	£1,625
22 June 2011	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	Constituency Office Rent	£1,625	£1,625
12 February 2012	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Rent February 2012	£1,582	£1,582
12 January 2012	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Rent January 2012	£1,582	£1,582
19 December 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Rent December 2011	£1,582	£1,582
25 November 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Rent November 2011	£1,582	£1,582
10 October 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Rent October 2011	£1,582	£1,582
8 September 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Rent September 2011	£1,582	£1,582
1 August 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Rent August 2011	£1,582	£1,582
13 July 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Rent July 2011	£1,582	£1,582
2 June 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Rent June 2011	£1,582	£1,582
16 May 2011	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	London Rent May 2011	£1,582	£1,582

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 Emma Reynolds 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 · Emma Reynolds’s register of interests and votes · Sources