MPs’ business costs
Rebecca Smith
IPSA paid £237,729 against 287 published rows for Rebecca Smith between 2024-25 and 2025-26 as the member for South West Devon 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, 2025-26
83 claims, £24,266 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 | £2,500 | 10.3% |
| Office costs | Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage. | 75 | £17,363 | 71.6% |
| 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. | 5 | £4,403 | 18.1% |
Every year in the register
Rebecca Smith’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2024-25 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 | Miscellaneous | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 204 | £152,503 | £30,541 | £18,683 | £11,406 | £331 | £213,464 |
| 2025-26 | 83 | £2,500 | £17,363 | £4,403 | — | — | £24,266 |
A year in which Rebecca Smith 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, 2025-26
The cost types IPSA records inside each heading, largest first by what it paid.
Staffing
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Recruitment Services &Costs | 1 | £1,750 |
| Training - staff | 2 | £750 |
Office costs
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Stationery & printing | 23 | £5,146 |
| Equipment - purchase | 9 | £2,229 |
| Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs | 1 | £1,920 |
| Advertising and contact cards | 3 | £1,750 |
| Software & applications | 2 | £1,571 |
| Service charge & ground Rent | 5 | £1,477 |
Accommodation
| Cost type | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Service charge & ground Rent | 2 | £3,500 |
| Council tax | 1 | £763 |
| Utilities | 2 | £140 |
Largest claims, 2025-26
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 March 2026 | Accommodation | Service charge & ground Rent | Service Charge - London flat - Yr 25/26 | £2,000 | £2,000 |
| 1 July 2025 | Office Costs | Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs | Electrical work - Constituency office | £1,920 | £1,920 |
| 14 August 2025 | Staffing | Recruitment Services &Costs | HIVE SUPPORT LTD | £1,750 | £1,750 |
| 17 February 2025 | Accommodation | Service charge & ground Rent | London home - annual service charge | £1,500 | £1,500 |
| 17 June 2025 | Office Costs | Software & applications | ELECTED TECHNOLOGIES | £1,476 | £1,476 |
| 6 August 2025 | Office Costs | Advertising and contact cards | PAYPAL ATLAS ATLAS | £1,380 | £1,380 |
| 14 April 2025 | Office Costs | Equipment - purchase | Other office equipment | £1,380 | £1,380 |
| 1 April 2025 | Accommodation | Council tax | London Home - Council Tax - yearly | £763 | £763 |
| 26 February 2026 | Office Costs | Stationery & printing | Printing of surveys | £630 | £630 |
| 28 March 2026 | Office Costs | Postage & couriers | 2nd class stamps | £479 | £479 |
| 30 April 2025 | Staffing | Training - staff | ELECTED TECHNOLOGIES | £450 | £450 |
| 23 March 2026 | Office Costs | Postage & couriers | 2nd class stamps | £435 | £435 |
| 24 November 2025 | Office Costs | Stationery & printing | XMA January 2026 | £408 | £408 |
| 24 November 2025 | Office Costs | Stationery & printing | XMA January 2026 | £408 | £408 |
| 24 November 2025 | Office Costs | Stationery & printing | XMA January 2026 | £408 | £408 |
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 Rebecca Smith 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 · Rebecca Smith’s register of interests and votes · Sources