FOI request for Baroness Warsi expenses in 2017/2018

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, House of Lords should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Joseph Michaels

Dear House of Lords,

Please may I request a list of all Baroness Warsi's claims for expenses during her work in 2017/2018.

Yours faithfully,
Joseph Michaels

HL FOI & Information Compliance, House of Lords

Dear Mr Michaels,

 

I am writing in response to your request (copied below) to the House of
Lords Administration.

 

The House of Lords Administration holds this information. We consider that
this information is exempt under sections 21 (reasonably accessible by
other means) and 22 (intended for future publication) of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (the FOI Act). Information relating to claims made by
individual members is published routinely on the Parliamentary website.

 

Section 21 – reasonably accessible by other means

 

A list of claims made by individual members for the requested period (the
financial year 2017/18) is published at the following link:

 

[1]https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-...

 

This information is published five months in arrears and is therefore
currently publicly available for the period April 2017 to February 2018.
We therefore consider that this part of the requested information is
reasonably accessible to you by means other than making an FOI request.

 

Section 22 – information intended for future publication

 

As mentioned above, this information is routinely published five months in
arrears, to allow for claims to be submitted, checked and paid
accordingly. More recent information is held with a view to publication in
accordance with our established programme for publishing this type of
information. The information for the remainder of the requested time
period, i.e. March 2018, is scheduled to be published in early August. We
therefore consider that this part of the requested information is exempt
under section 22.

 

This exemption is subject to the public interest test. In applying this
test, we have weighed the public interest in publication at this time
against the staff resources required and the impact on other work if the
planned publication work programme were to be brought forward in order to
respond to your individual request. We have also taken into account the
fact that this information is due to be published in the near future. We
have concluded that the public interest in maintaining the exemption
outweighs the public interest in bringing forward the publication
programme ahead of the planned publication dates.

 

You may, if dissatisfied with the treatment of your request, ask the House
of Lords to conduct an internal review. This should be addressed to
[2][email address] or to the Freedom of Information Officer, House
of Lords, London SW1A 0PW and explain clearly the nature of your complaint
in terms of compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Arrangements will be made for someone who has not been involved in dealing
with your request to conduct an internal review within 20 working days.
You should note that we will not normally accept an application for
internal review if it is received more than two months after the date our
response was sent. Any such request received after this time will only be
considered in exceptional circumstances.

 

If, following this review, you remain dissatisfied with the House’s
treatment of your request for information you may then take your complaint
to the Information Commissioner at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Kimberley Swift

Information Compliance Team

House of Lords

 

 

 

From: Joseph Michaels
[[3]mailto:[FOI #497287 email]]
Sent: 13 July 2018 15:34
To: HL External Communications Office
Subject: Freedom of Information request - FOI request for Baroness Warsi
expenses in 2017/2018

 

Dear House of Lords,

Please may I request a list of all Baroness Warsi's claims for expenses
during her work in 2017/2018.

Yours faithfully,
Joseph Michaels

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[4][FOI #497287 email]

Is [5][House of Lords request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to House of Lords? If so, please contact us using this form:
[6]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/change_re...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[7]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:
[8]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

show quoted sections

Joseph Michaels

Dear HL FOI & Information Compliance,

Thanks for coming back to me. I am already aware of the link put onto your response showing how much each member of the House of Lords spends but that information is no good to the public where it doesn't note what/why that expense is for exactly, such detail is actually very important.

It's all good spending money for things one might need e.g. to travel but the public have a right to know what each member of the House of Lords, just as much Members of Parliament, is doing with the public's money.

Yours sincerely,

Joseph Michaels

HL FOI & Information Compliance, House of Lords

Dear Mr Michaels, 

 

I am writing in response to your email, received on 20 July 2018,
requesting a review of the House Administration’s response to your FOI
request about expense claims. 

 

It may be helpful if I explain that Members of the House of Lords (most of
whom do not receive a salary) are eligible to receive allowances and can
claim for travel expenses within certain limits. You may wish to note that
the process is not the same as that for Members of the House of Commons
(MPs). The current scheme for Members of the House of Lords, which sets
out in detail the type of financial support available to Members and the
process of submission, payment and publication of claims, is available
here: 

 

[1]https://www.parliament.uk/documents/lord...

 

In your original request you asked for a “a list of all Baroness Warsi's
claims for expenses during her work in 2017/2018”. I consider that the
original response, advising that this information is or will shortly be
published on the Parliament website, was correct in that the specific
information requested was reasonably accessible by other means, or
intended for future publication, at the time of receiving your request. 
The information, either already published or intended for future
publication, lists all the amounts claimed under the relevant categories
as set out and explained in more detail in the Guide referred to above. 

 

In your email of 20 July you appear to be asking for additional details,
however your email is not clear as to what specific information you
require beyond that available on our website. If you can provide
clarification as to the specific information you are seeking, we will be
happy to process this as a new request. You may find the Guide helpful in
determining the type of information and level of detail likely to be held
by the Administration.  

 

If you remain dissatisfied with the House’s treatment of your request you
may take your complaint to the Information Commissioner at Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. 

  

Yours sincerely,

 

Frances Grey

Head of Information Compliance

House of Lords 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UK Parliament Disclaimer: This e-mail is confidential to the intended
recipient. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender and
delete it from your system. Any unauthorised use, disclosure, or copying
is not permitted. This e-mail has been checked for viruses, but no
liability is accepted for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by
this e-mail. This e-mail address is not secure, is not encrypted and
should not be used for sensitive data.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.parliament.uk/documents/lord...

Dear HL FOI & Information Compliance,

Thank you for your response.

I'm not sure what exactly there is to clarify apart from stating, for example, that if person A travels to a location for an event or meeting (whether it be a company, charity or think-tank), I would (in this case the public as well) like to know where they have gone to for that travel expense and reasons for it, it is perfectly reasonable to ask for such information. In the private sector you claim any expenses you need to justify them as questions are ask, it is no different to those serving in the House of Commons or House of Lords.

As per your document it states on page 2 about 'integrity' and 'openess' - where in fact we wouldn't be able to get such information either from the sources provided to me so far hence why I making this request in the form that it is in.

Yours sincerely,

Joseph Michaels

HL FOI & Information Compliance, House of Lords

Dear Mr Michaels,

 

Thank you for your reply providing clarification on the additional
information sought. We are now processing this as a new request. We aim to
provide a response promptly, and in any case within 20 working days.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Kimberley Swift

Information Compliance Team

House of Lords

 

 

 

From: Joseph Michaels [mailto:[FOI #497287 email]]
Sent: 08 August 2018 14:18
To: HL FOI & Information Compliance <[email address]>
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - FOI request
for Baroness Warsi expenses in 2017/2018

 

Dear HL FOI & Information Compliance,

Thank you for your response.

I'm not sure what exactly there is to clarify apart from stating, for
example, that if person A travels to a location for an event or meeting
(whether it be a company, charity or think-tank), I would (in this case
the public as well) like to know where they have gone to for that travel
expense and reasons for it, it is perfectly reasonable to ask for such
information. In the private sector you claim any expenses you need to
justify them as questions are ask, it is no different to those serving in
the House of Commons or House of Lords.

As per your document it states on page 2 about 'integrity' and 'openess' -
where in fact we wouldn't be able to get such information either from the
sources provided to me so far hence why I making this request in the form
that it is in.

Yours sincerely,

Joseph Michaels

show quoted sections

HL FOI & Information Compliance, House of Lords

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Michaels,

 

Please find attached our response to your request (copied below) to the
House of Lords Administration.

 

You may, if dissatisfied with the treatment of your request, ask the House
of Lords to conduct an internal review. This should be addressed to
[1][email address] or to the Freedom of Information Officer, House
of Lords, London SW1A 0PW and explain clearly the nature of your complaint
in terms of compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Arrangements will be made for someone who has not been involved in dealing
with your request to conduct an internal review within 20 working days.

 

You should note that we will not normally accept an application for
internal review if it is received more than two months after the date our
response was sent. Any such request received after this time will only be
considered in exceptional circumstances.

 

If, following this review, you remain dissatisfied with the House’s
treatment of your request for information you may then take your complaint
to the Information Commissioner at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Kimberley Swift

Information Compliance Team

House of Lords

 

 

UK Parliament Disclaimer: This e-mail is confidential to the intended
recipient. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender and
delete it from your system. Any unauthorised use, disclosure, or copying
is not permitted. This e-mail has been checked for viruses, but no
liability is accepted for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by
this e-mail. This e-mail address is not secure, is not encrypted and
should not be used for sensitive data.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]

Dear HL FOI &amp; Information Compliance,

In response to your last reply can you then please confirm that the House of Lords do not require any member to declare their non-attendence to the House of Lords itself may it be a visit to charity event or private individual/business?

Yours sincerely,
Joseph Michaels