Home Secretary Jacqui Smith – how many nights spent at main residence?

Dear Sir or Madam,

A tremendous reform instituted by the current Government is the
introduction and driving forward of greater transparency of
Government, the means by which its aims are achieved and the
conduct of those entrusted to represent the people of our country.

The current crisis regarding MP's allowances threatens to undermine
this good work and the higher the rank of the MP the greater this
crisis becomes, and none more so than that of the current Home
Secretary Jacqui Smith, the most high profile political figure to
come under the spotlight to date.

I now understand the rule by which MPs can claim a property as
their main residence as defined by the term "spends more nights at
than any other", in contrast to time spent at a second home, which
brings its own entitlements.

Therefore, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please advise
me: during the previous 12 months how many nights has the Home
Secretary Jacqui Smith spent at her main residence?

I look forward to your response.

Yours faithfully,

Neil Hood

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of House of Commons's
handling of my FOI request 'Home Secretary Jacqui Smith – how many
nights spent at main residence?'.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ho...

I am grateful for the reply I received, however, the response is
highly unsatisfactory for the following reasons:

As MPs can claim vast sums of money at the tax-payer's expense, and
in this case it has been reported that the Home Secretary has
claimed more than £116,000 on the basis she "spends more nights at
her sister's property than at any other", then there clearly must
be some sort of auditable process that can validate this huge claim
against the public's money.

Even if it's only an honesty system that's employed (one that
permits MPs to state how many nights they spend at a property which
is not their family home but which they claim as their 'main
residence' for expenses reasons), as opposed to one that requires
MPs to provide actual evidence, there must be a record somewhere.

Without any kind of record, the system becomes wide open to such
flagrant abuses it's tantamount to financial irresponsibility at
best or even encourages fraud and deception at worst. And it can
not be claimed that abuses do not occur, the names of two prominent
MPs spring immediately to mind from within this last year.

Consequently, if you do not have the information I have requested,
will you please tell me who does?

Yours faithfully,

Neil Hood.