Total cost of MSP

The request was successful.

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please can you supply in plain text format the total cost of MSP's for the last five financial years in expenses and wages.

Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

Kevin Wells

Scottish Parliament

Dear Mr Wells

We are currently putting together the information in response to your
request on MSPs' expenses and wages. However can I just check something:
you ask for the information in "plain text format". Do you mean "plain
text format" as in the email format? Or do you have something else in
mind?

Kind regards

Steven Tallach
FOI Officer

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Dear Steven Tallach,

By plain text I mean standard plain and simple email format, no MS Word files.

Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

Kevin Wells

Scottish Parliament

Dear Mr Wells

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ON THE TOTAL COST OF MSPs FOR THE LAST
FIVE FINANCIAL YEARS IN EXPENSES AND WAGES

Thank you for your request for information relating to "the
total cost of MSPs for the last five financial years in
expenses and wages" which we received on 9 September 2009.
Your request has been handled in accordance with the Freedom of
Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and the following information
is supplied for the four financial years 2004/05 to 2007/08:

Financial Year MSP Pay Costs MSP Allowances
£'000 £'000
2007/08 11,301 9,727
2006/07 10,050 9,738
2005/06 9,698 9,572
2004/05 9,600 8,896

This information can be found within the in Notes to the
Resource Accounts section of the Annual Accounts which are
published on the Scottish Parliament website:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/corpor...

MSP pay costs are in Note 2A Members and Staff Pay Costs. These
also include Ministers pay costs. MSP
Allowances are in Note 3 Other Administration Costs.

Costs relating to the financial year 2008/09 will be published
on our website in November 2009. Please see the refusal notice
below for information on this.

In keeping with our FOI procedures, this information may also
be posted on the Parliament's disclosure log (usually within 24
hours). For further details on the Parliament's Disclosure Log
and the information released under FOI, visit:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/corpor...

The supply of information under FOI does not constitute
permission for its use in a way that would infringe copyright.
Where relevant, you should obtain permission from the copyright
holder before any such use.

We would welcome feedback or comment on how we handled your
request. Please feel free to contact the FOI Specialist at the
Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh, EH99 1SP or by e-mail at
[Scottish Parliament request email]

Please find below Annex A, which explains how we handle FOI
requests and reviews.

Yours sincerely

Lisbeth Craig
Financial Controller

REFUSAL NOTICE

This refusal notice is provided in accordance with section
16 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 ("the Act").

You have requested certain information which we have decided
not to disclose to you. Further information about this decision
is set out below.

Information which is the subject of the request - Total cost of MSP's
for the last five financial years in expenses and wages.

Information which is being withheld - Costs relating to the
financial
year 2008/09.

This information is held by us but we consider it to be exempt
information
under the Act and that it therefore should not be disclosed.
Details are
set out below.

Exemption: Section 27(1) - "Information intended for future publication"

Why exemption(s) applies: Section 27(1) states that information
is exempt if
a public authority intends to publish it not later than twelve weeks
after the date on which it was requested. In this case, the information
will be published in November 2009.

Public interest: The public interest in maintaining the section
27 exemption
pending publication outweighs the public interest in immediate
disclosure.
The public interest in openness will be served by the publication of the
information when it is published and searchable on the
Parliament's website.
It is not in the public interest that the scheduled publication
of information
should be pre-empted by an individual request.

Annex A

REQUESTS MADE UNDER
THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002

How we handle FOI requests

Information on how we handle FOI requests is available on the
Parliament's website at: www.scottish.parliament.uk/corporate/foi

Alternatively, please contact the Parliament's Public
Information Service to request a copy.

Review

If you are dissatisfied with the way in which we have dealt
with your request for information, you can ask us to review our
decision and actions. You must do this in writing (or other
permanent form) within 40 working days of the date of this
letter, stating the reasons for your dissatisfaction, and we
will respond within 20 working days of receipt. A request for
a review should be made to the FOI Specialist:
Post: FOI Specialist
The Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh
EH99 1SP
Telephone: 0131 348 6913 (RNID Typetalk calls welcome)
Textphone: 0131 348 3415
Fax: 0131 348 5378
E-mail: [Scottish Parliament request email]

Application to the Scottish Information Commissioner

If, on the outcome of any review, you are still dissatisfied,
or if we are unable to resolve any other complaint, then you
can contact the Scottish Information Commissioner:
Post: The Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle
Doubledykes Road
St Andrews
Fife
KY16 9DS
Telephone: 01334 464610
Fax: 01334 464611
Website: www.itspublicknowledge.info
E-mail: [email address]

A decision by the Scottish Information Commissioner may be
appealed, on a point of law, to the Court of Session.

Copyright in relation to information provided

The supply of information under FOI does not constitute
permission for its use in a way that would infringe copyright.
Where relevant, you should obtain permission from the copyright
holder before any such use.

Feedback or comment

We would welcome feedback or comment on how we handled your
request. Please contact the FOI Specialist.

Complaints

If you are dissatisfied with the way in which we dealt with
your enquiry, then you may wish to raise the matter with the
FOI Specialist.

How to contact us

Post: The Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh
EH99 1SP

Telephone: 0131 348 5000
0800 092 7500 (Public Enquiries)
0131 348 5395 (Ghàidhlig)

Textphone users can contact us on 0800 092 7100

We also welcome calls using the RNID Typetalk service.

Fax: 0131 348 5601
E-mail: [email address]

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