MPs Email - Can these be requested via FOI and Time period emails held.

The request was successful.

Dear House of Commons,
Hi,

hope you are well.

Could you let me know if emails sent and received by Members of Parliament can be obtained via FOI requests (I understand those of a personal nature or National Security are definitely not).

Add to that,

If a Member were to leave, or be voted out of office, how long are Members emails retained after they leave?

And,

could all emails for a period be requested, if the answers to the above two are yes.

Many thanks

Yours faithfully,

KMARTIN

FOI Commons, House of Commons

1 Attachment

Dear K Martin,

 

 

Thank you for your request for information dated 10 May 2015, received by
us on the 11 May 2015 which is copied below.

 

When a General Election is called, Parliament is dissolved and there is no
‘House of Commons’ for the purposes of the Freedom of Information 2000 Act
(FOIA).  As a result, there is no public authority to which the 20 working
day response deadline is capable of applying.  The time limits are
therefore suspended during the period of dissolution and resume when the
House of Commons first meets following the General Election.

 

As your request was received during the dissolution period, the 20 working
day time limit will commence when the House returns after the General
Election. This is expected to be 18 May 2015 but please note that if for
whatever reason Parliament meets later than Monday 18 May 2015, any
response will be further delayed.

 

Further information about the FOIA and Dissolution can be found on our web
pages here:
[1]http://www.parliament.uk/site-informatio....

 

In the meantime, if you have any queries about your request, please
contact us quoting the request number in the subject line of this email.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Sarah Price | IRIS Support Officer
Information Rights and Information Security (IRIS) Service | House of
Commons

[2]cid:image002.jpg@01D02B64.34D76640

2015 marks 10 years of the Freedom of Information Act.

Click [3]here for information about FOI in the House of Commons,

or to see what we publish.

 

 

 

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FOI Commons, House of Commons

1 Attachment

Dear K Martin,

 

 

Freedom of Information request F15-208

 

Thank you for your request for information as copied below. You asked a
number of questions regarding the obtaining of Members of Parliaments
emails via Freedom of Information requests which we have sought to answer
below.

 

1.   Could you let me know if emails sent and received by Members of
Parliament can be obtained via FOI requests

 

Members are their own data owners and are not subject to the Freedom of
Information Act.

 

While email communications to @[1]parliament.uk addresses are routed
through or stored on parliamentary email servers, the House of Commons
does not hold this data for its own purposes.  IT administrators may have
technical access to these systems and servers, however, the public
authority has neither created the data transmitted or stored therein, nor
does it retain the material for its own purposes. Therefore data of this
nature is not held by the House of Commons for the purposes of the Freedom
of Information Act. 

 

For guidance on the extent to which data is held for the purposes of the
Act please refer to the Information Commissioner's web site:
[2]http://www.ico.org.uk/~/media/documents/...

You may wish to consider contacting Members individually to ask for
details of their emails and contact details are available at:
[3]http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-o... However, Members
of Parliament are not public authorities for the purposes of the Freedom
of Information Act.  This means that they are not obliged to respond to
requests made under the Act.  Similarly, the Act does not apply to
political parties.

FOI applies to public authorities and both the House of Commons and House
of Lords are listed as institutions covered by the Act.  In addition,
information held by government offices in relation to ministerial
activities and responsibilities will also be subject to the Act’s
provisions.  Further information about FOIA and Parliament is available on
our website: [4]http://www.parliament.uk/site-informatio....

 

2.   If a Member were to leave, or be voted out of office, how long are
Members emails retained after they leave?

 

For Members who stood down or were not returned at the election, their
emails will be retained for 120 days after the election.

 

3.   Could all emails for a period be requested, if the answers to the
above two are yes

 

Please see our response to question 1. 

You may, if dissatisfied with the handling of your request, complain to
the House of Commons.  Alternatively, if you are dissatisfied with the
outcome of your request you may ask the House of Commons to conduct an
internal review of any decision regarding your request.  Complaints or
requests for internal review should be addressed to: Information Rights
and Information Security Service, Department of HR and Change, House of
Commons, London SW1A 0AA or [5][House of Commons request email].  Please ensure
that you specify the full reasons for your complaint or internal review
along with 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,
[6]www.ico.gov.uk.

Yours sincerely,

 

 

         
Abigail Richmond | Information Rights Manager
Information Rights and Information Security (IRIS) Service | House of
Commons

Tel: 0207 219 2559 | Text Relay: 18001 219 2559 | Third Floor, 7 Millbank,
London, SW1P 3JA

 

[7]cid:image002.jpg@01D02B64.34D76640

2015 marks 10 years of the Freedom of Information Act.

Click [8]here for information about FOI in the House of Commons,

or to see what we publish.

 

 

 

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