MPs’ business costs

Ian Lavery

IPSA paid £3,217,245 against 1,719 published rows for Ian Lavery between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Wansbeck CC, then Blyth and Ashington 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, 2022-23

135 claims, £272,814 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	£219,699	80.5%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	103	£23,287	8.5%
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.	22	£23,300	8.5%
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.	9	£6,527	2.4%

Every year in the register

Ian Lavery’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	Total
2010-11	78	£90,634	£9,081	£18,668	£9,850	£128,233
2011-12	79	£116,058	£17,058	£18,558	£14,184	£165,859
2012-13	122	£132,797	£20,518	£18,804	£14,804	£186,923
2013-14	106	£143,988	£21,801	£19,451	£11,775	£197,015
2014-15	115	£135,969	£18,968	£18,491	£10,384	£183,813
2015-16	111	£139,370	£22,868	£19,162	£10,443	£191,843
2016-17	102	£140,077	£22,733	£19,538	£9,724	£192,071
2017-18	113	£150,869	£21,095	£19,810	£10,506	£202,280
2018-19	101	£153,503	£23,407	£19,841	£10,699	£207,450
2019-20	115	£155,752	£20,045	£19,864	£9,902	£205,564
2020-21	71	£188,702	£9,200	£21,791	£909	£220,601
2021-22	107	£195,683	£22,040	£21,591	£4,453	£243,768
2022-23	135	£219,699	£23,287	£23,300	£6,527	£272,814
2023-24	149	£224,157	£29,106	£23,655	£6,766	£283,684
2024-25	156	£246,913	£25,615	£28,348	£8,809	£309,685
2025-26	59	£4,240	£18,389	£3,014	—	£25,643

A year in which Ian Lavery 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, 2022-23

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

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£219,699

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	12	£6,000
Equipment - purchase	4	£3,283
Utilities	6	£2,795
Mobile telephone - contract & usage	24	£2,696
Waste disposal, confidential waste & rubbish collection	4	£2,133
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	19	£1,750

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	12	£19,167
Council tax	3	£1,965
Hotel - London	4	£1,575
Utilities	3	£593

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rail	3	£5,876
Mileage - car	4	£428
Hotel - London	1	£143
Other public transport	1	£80

Largest claims, 2022-23

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 2023	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2022-23 year	£219,699	£219,699
31 March 2023	MP Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2022-23	£5,356	£5,356
18 January 2023	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£2,552	£2,552
4 April 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,700	£1,700
2 March 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,700	£1,700
2 February 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,700	£1,700
5 January 2023	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,700	£1,700
1 November 2022	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,700	£1,700
4 October 2022	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,700	£1,700
1 September 2022	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,700	£1,700
2 August 2022	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,700	£1,700
21 July 2022	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,700	£1,700
17 May 2022	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,591	£1,591
19 April 2022	Accommodation	Rent	—	£1,591	£1,591
17 March 2022	Accommodation	Council tax	LAMBETH INTERNET PAYM	£1,560	£1,560

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 Ian Lavery 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 · Ian Lavery’s register of interests and votes · Sources