Speaker Election Voter Record

Dear Mr Spooner

Thank you for your request for information dated 30 June 2009, received
by us on 1 July 2009, which is copied below.

Following the recent publication of information about MP's expenses, we
are receiving unprecedented numbers of requests which, unfortunately,
has affected our ability to consistently meet the statutory targets for
a response. We are allocating additional resources to deal with this but
in some cases our responses are taking longer than we would like or we
commit to normally.

Information relating to allowances for the period 2008/09 - 2009/10 is
currently being prepared for publication and will be available as soon
as possible.

We will endeavour to respond promptly to your request within 20 working
days, i.e. on or before 29 July 2009.

If you have and queries about your request please use the request number
quoted in the subject line of this email.

Yours sincerely

________________________________________________________________

Brenda Brevitt
Project Officer
FOI, Department of Resources
House of Commons
P Please consider the environment before printing

I am writing under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request a
copy of the record of members that voted in each of the ballots for
the election of the position of Speaker held on 22nd June 2009.

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F09-424

Dear Mr Spooner,

Thank you for your request for information, which is copied below.

The names of Members participating in each round of balloting in the
Speaker's election were marked off in the division lobbies on special
division sheets broken down into different sections of the alphabet. This
was an important element of the control system to ensure that no Member
could obtain more than one ballot form for each round (since the ballot
was a secret one).

The election was a Proceeding in Parliament and the information requested
would fall under section 34 of the Act which provides that information is
exempt from disclosure if it would infringe the privileges of either
House.

In addition, the Standing Order of the House covering the election of the
Speaker by ballot (SO No 1B) states explicitly that the ballot should be
secret. For us to reveal the names of those participating in the ballots
would clearly be contrary to the intention of the House set out in that
Standing Order.

The information you have requested is therefore exempt from disclosure
under section 34(1) of the Freedom of Information Act, in order to avoid
an infringement of the privileges of the House of Commons. This is an
absolute exemption and the public interest test does not apply.

If the decision to apply section 34 of the 2000 Act in respect of your
request is upheld by review, a certificate signed by the Speaker may be
issued. This certificate would provide conclusive evidence that the
exemption was required for the purpose described above.

Yours sincerely,

Bob Castle

Head of Information Rights and Information Security

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Dear Mr Spooner,

Internal review request

Thank you for your email dated 3rd August 2009 requesting an internal
review of Freedom of Information request ref: F09-424, which was
received on 4th August 2009, and is copied below.

Our internal target for dealing with internal reviews is thirty working
days. We will deal with your request promptly and endeavour to provide
a response by 16th September 2009.

If you have any queries about the review, please contact
[House of Commons request email] quoting your request reference.

Yours,

Patrick Dawson

Data Protection and Freedom of Information Manager
Information Rights and Information Security (IRIS) service
Department of Resources
FOI
House of Commons
London

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F09-424

Dear Mr Spooner,

Thank you for your request for an internal review of our response to your
request for information. I am sorry for the delay but we have been unable
to complete a response to your request by the intended deadline of 16
September 2009 as it is necessary for us to obtain the views of the
Speaker. It is being considered as a matter of priority and will be
responded to as soon as possible. Details of how to make a complaint
about the handling of your request will follow with the response.

Yours sincerely,

Bob Castle

Head of Information Rights and Information Security

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F09-424

Dear Mr Spooner,

Thank you for your email dated 20 October, in which you ask us to provide
you with a date by which we expect the internal review of your requests
F09-423 and F09-424 to be completed. The responses to your requests
stated that the information you sought was exempt from disclosure under
section 34 of the Freedom of Information Act. In order for the
application of these exemptions to be reviewed it is necessary to obtain
the views of Mr Speaker. It was unfortunately not possible to consult
with the new Speaker with respect to the application of the section 34
exemption to your requests during the summer recess. Arrangements have
been made to take your requests to the Speaker now that the House has
returned from the summer recess and we anticipate being able to respond to
this internal review shortly.

We accept that this represents a delay from the original date by which we
had hoped to be able to respond to your internal reviews. However, this
has been necessitated by the need to consult with the Speaker in order to
conclude the internal reviews.

Yours sincerely,

Bob Castle

Head of Information Rights and Information Security

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F09-424

Dear Mr Spooner,

Please find attached response to your request for an internal review of
your Freedom of Information request F09-424. If you would like a hard
copy of this response please let us know.

Yours sincerely,

Katy Gray

Freedom of Information and Data Protection Coordinator

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Dear Mr Spooner,

Thank you for your e-mail of 12 March relating to your request, which we numbered F09-424, for voter lists from the Speaker's election.

Mr Speaker's letter to you of 11 February 2010 explained why the information you requested is being withheld: see also paragraph 25 of the House of Commons Procedure Select Committee’s Report on Election of the Speaker and of the Deputy Speakers (HC 341) which was published on 3 February 2010 and is available online at:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa...

You asked us to forward to you a Section 34(3) certificate which you say "is necessary to claim a Section 34 exemption on internal review". I should explain that this is not the case. A certificate is not necessary for the exemption to be applied, either before or after a review. It is no more than a matter of evidence. By virtue of section 34, information is exempt information if exemption from section 1(1)(b) is required for the purpose of avoiding an infringement of the privileges of either House of Parliament. Mr Speaker's letter explains to you why such exemption is required in this case and why it would be a breach of the House’s privileges to release the information you asked for. A certificate signed by the Speaker, certifying that exemption is required for the purpose of avoiding an infringement of the privileges of either House of Parliament, provides conclusive evidence of that fact (should that fact be challenged in legal proceedings, for example) but it is not necessary for a certificate to be signed as a condition for claiming the exemption.

Although Mr Speaker has not signed a certificate in relation to this request, he has signed a letter to you explaining why it has not proved possible to release this information. It therefore demonstrates that this matter has been considered personally by him.

Yours sincerely

Bob Castle
Head of Information Rights and Information Security

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