breakdown of expenses incurred by Jim Dowd MP

Dear Mr Berry,

Thank you for your email.

According to our records, the deadline for response is 25 June.

Mandy Kelly
Freedom of Information Assistant
020 7219 8805

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Dear Mr Berry,

Thank you for your requests for information dated 28 May 2008 which are copied below.

As described in the following, your requests are refused but much of the information you have asked for will be published later this year. In the case of information about the Additional Costs Allowance (which covers the cost of maintaining a second home or for staying overnight away from the main residence) you are asked to clarify whether or not your request includes information relating to the addresses of the MPs' main and second homes.

Information about claims

The House has taken the decision to prepare for publication detailed information about allowance expenditure by all Members other than information which is covered by the exemption in section 40 of the FOIA (personal data). The information disclosed will include the detailed information about claims you require. The intended amendment to the House's publication scheme will take full account of the Information Commissioner and Tribunal's decisions. It is planned that the first stage of this publication which it is intended will eventually cover all years for which information is held will take place in the autumn of this year.

Therefore, while the information is held by the House, the exemption described in section 22 of the Act applies (information intended for future publication) and your request is refused. This is not an absolute exemption and the public interest test must be applied.
At present the House holds detailed information relating to the current financial year and the four previous (2004/05 to 2008/09). Very little by way of detail is held on the electronic systems. Therefore, the preparation of material for publication later this year will involve looking in detail at the paper records of claims and receipts for each Member and former Member while ensuring that the Information Commissioner's conclusions are properly considered and implemented. The paper records which will need to be analysed comprise around 2,600 large files and all available resources will focus on producing that information in as short a period as possible. That process would be seriously disrupted if staff as well or instead had to deal with individual requests relating to particular years or particular MPs or groups of MPs.
While the House accepts that there is a public interest in providing access to information relating to individual MPs such as that covered by your request it has concluded that this interest is outweighed by the public interest in providing access as soon as possible to detailed information covering all Members. Therefore, the House has concluded that the balance of the public interest rests with maintaining the exemption while this information is being prepared for publication.
The Information Commissioner and the Information Tribunal have decided in previous cases that certain information held by the House in relation to Members' expenses should be withheld from disclosure under section 40 of the FOIA. This is because its disclosure would have a disproportionate adverse effect on MPs' legitimate privacy interests. This information includes items such as the personal data of third parties (with some exceptions), bank statements and other personal financial documents, the itemised parts of telephone bills and other material relevant to the security measures at the MPs' homes. The information to be published in the revised publication scheme will not include information which the Tribunal has said should be redacted. Disclosure of that information to you now is refused. Section 40 provides for an absolute exemption and the public interest test under the FOIA does not apply. For full details of the redactions that will be made under section 40 I refer you to the decision of the Information Tribunal of 26 February 2008 in Corporate Officer of the House of Commons v Information Commissioner (link below). For a description of the information to be published about staffing I refer you to the Information Commissioner's decision dated 16 January 2008.
Information about addresses
Please note that MPs' home addresses will not appear on the information to be published in the autumn. It is not clear from your requests whether or not you require this information. If you do require this data please let me know as I will need to write to the MPs concerned to ascertain whether or not the special security circumstances described in the Information Tribunal's decision notice (link below) apply to the information covered by your requests. The House will then need to consider whether the information falls within any of the exemptions in the Act. If the House concludes that none of the exemptions applies, the addresses will be provided to you as soon as possible.
http://www.informationtribunal.gov.uk/Do...
The House will consider complaints in relation to its handling of these requests. These should be addressed to [House of Commons request email]. Please ensure that you specify the nature of your complaint and any arguments or points that you wish to make. If you remain dissatisfied, you may appeal to the Information Commissioner at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire.

Bob Castle

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Bob Castle
Freedom of Information and Data Protection Officer
020 7219 2032

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please provide a full breakdown of expenses incurred by Jim Dowd MP
incurred whilst carrying out his full parliamentary duty. Please
include expenses relating to second homes and subsidiary staff paid
for by Jim Dowd MP.

Please provide this infortion for all years from 2000 up to 2007.

Yours faithfully,

Jake Berry

Dear Sir or Madam, Please note that the FOI request sent by me
relting to Janet Anderson MP should have read:-

"Dear Sir or Madam,

Please provide a full breakdown of expenses incurred by Janet
Anderson MP incurred whilst carrying out his full parliamentary duty.
Please include expenses relating to second homes and subsidiary staff
paid for by Janet Anderson MP.

Please provide this infortion for all years from 2000 up to 2007."

Yours faithfully,

Jake Berry

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Dear Mr Berry,

Please accept my apologies but the following link, which refers to information about staffing, was omitted from the previous email.

http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/d...

Mandy Kelly
Freedom of Information Assistant
020 7219 8805

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