Expenses for Jonathan Djanogly mp

Dear Mr Sittampalam

Thank you for your email dated and received today - 21 January 2009.

Your request will be dealt with promptly and you should receive a
response by 18 February 2009.

If you have any queries about your request, please contact me.

Mandy Kelly
Freedom of Information Assistant

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Sittampalam

Thank you for your request which is attached.

I can confirm that this information is held by the House with the
intention that it should be made available to the public generally.
While a date for publication has not yet been set, there is a clear
intention to publish this information at a future date so this
information is exempt from the obligation to provide you with a copy by
virtue of the exemption set out in section 22 of the FOI Act
(information held with the intention of future publication) and your
request is refused. While there is a public interest in providing
access to information relating to MPs such as that covered by your
request, this interest is outweighed by the public interest in providing
access as soon as possible to information about all MPs. Therefore, the
balance of the public interest rests with maintaining the exemption
while this information is being prepared for publication.

I am sorry that I am not in a position to give a more detailed response
about the timing of the publication but the following answers to recent
Parliamentary Questions set out the latest position.

Hansard 3 Feb 2009 : Column 1102W Members: Allowances

Jo Swinson: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the
House of Commons Commission pursuant to the answer of 27 January 2009,
Official Report, columns 542-43W, on Members: allowances, (1) what
timetable was given to the contractor brought in to assist with the
process of publishing the details of hon. Members' expenses; and whether
there are penalties in the contract for any delays that occur; [254039]

(2) when the process of scanning and redacting receipts for hon.
Members' expenses will be completed and passed to hon. Members for
checking. [254040]

Nick Harvey: The process of scanning and redacting claims, receipts etc
has been undertaken in two stages. The first stage included the scanning
of all relevant documentation and the initial editing and was concluded
in October 2008 within agreed deadlines. The second stage has involved
further editing to take account of privacy and security concerns
apparent on completion of stage 1. This work is currently in hand and
will be completed in March within agreed time frames. There have been no
delays in the fulfilment of the contract. On completion of the scanning
and editing work, hon. Members will need to check the records relating
to them, and further editing may then be required. A date for sending
out this information has not yet been set, but Members will receive
advance notification of what they will need to do and how to raise
matters of concern.

Hansard 28 Jan 2009 : Column 543W

Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the
House of Commons Commission for what reason backdated details of hon.
Members' expenses have not yet been published; what factors account for
the delay; and if he will ensure that all relevant information will be
placed in the public domain by the end of February 2009. [249218]

Nick Harvey: The task of scanning and editing for publication a very
large amount of information has proved more difficult than originally
envisaged when the proposed arrangements for disclosure of Members'
expenses down to receipt level were announced last summer. Ensuring that
hon. Members' legitimate security and privacy concerns were taken into
account has been complex and has required careful attention to over
700,000 individual records. Once scanning and editing has been
completed, individual hon. Members will need to check the records
relating to them, and further editing may then be required. This process
will not be complete by the end of February 2009 and a date for
publication cannot yet be set.

You may, if dissatisfied with the treatment of your request, ask the
House of Commons to conduct an internal review of this decision.
Requests for internal review should be addressed to: Freedom of
Information Officer, Department of Resources, House of Commons London
SW1 OAA or [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 SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely

Bob Castle

_________________________________________

Bob Castle
Head of Information Rights and Information Security House of Commons

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Sittampalam

It is not a claim it is a fact. At the time the request was received
the information was held by the House of Commons with the intention that
it should be published at a later date. The intention to publish
pre-dates both your request and the motion to which you refer. The
debate on the motion confirmed the pre-existing intention to publish.

Yours sincerely

Bob Castle

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Sittampalam

The motion was passed (Hansard 22 Jan 2009 Column 969) and the intention
remains the same.

Bob

show quoted sections

Dear Ganesh
This is all interesting stuff but we have now strayed outside of FOI
into the realms of the hypothetical. The House of Commons is the public
authority. The Statutory Instrument to which you now refer was a
government Order which was not debated by the House of Commons. Any
discussion now about what would have happened had the Order been voted
on and passed would be speculation and I decline to go there!

All the best

Bob

show quoted sections

Dear Ganesh
I should be grateful if you could clarify whether or not you wish the
House of Commons to conduct an internal review of the decision to apply
the exemption described in section 22(1) to your request dated 21
January 2009 - the review would consider both the application of the
exemption itself and the conclusion of the associated public interest
test. I am grateful for the offer of being able to sit on it but either
we follow the formal process or we do not.
Regards
Bob

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Sittampalam,

Thank you for your email dated 20 February 2009 and received on 23
February in which you clarify that you are requesting an internal review
of the House's treatment of your Freedom of Information request.

Our internal deadline for dealing with reviews is thirty working days.
We will therefore endeavour to provide a response by 6 April 2009.

If you have any queries, please contact me.

Mandy Kelly
Freedom of Information Assistant

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Sittampalam

Please see attached the findings of the internal review into the
treatment of your Freedom of Infromation request.

<<20090409 Signed Internal Review response F09-010.pdf>>

Mandy Kelly
Freedom of Information Assistant
Information Rights and Information Security (IRIS) Service - Department
of Resources
House of Commons

show quoted sections