Peter Bone MP's staffing costs

Request

A couple of days ago I asked Peter Bone what the gross annual wage bill is for his office (including his wife). He refused to tell me and advised me to get the details from the IPSA Website. I have studied this closely but cannot get the details I require. Would you please tell me the amount of the wages


Response

We judge that the requested information is exempt under 22(1) (information intended for future publication) of the Freedom of Information Act. On 7 July 2011 we will be publishing MPs’ total costs and expenses for the period 7 May 2010 and 31 March 2011. We will be publishing this information by MP and by budget. You will at this time be able to view details of Mr Bone’s staffing costs on our publication website. Under staffing costs we will publish, in £5,000 bands, the salaries of all connected parties in MPs’ employment. “Connected parties” cover a wider group than relatives alone.

We have considered whether the public interest in releasing the information outweighs the application of the exemption. It is our opinion that the public interest is best served by publishing the information at a set date, rather than on a piecemeal basis, which will mean that a clear and complete set of information is published at that time. It is for these reasons that the application of the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

In respect of the final element of your request, I can confirm that we do not hold this information. However, as no newly elected MP has been in office for more than 13 months, the longest period of employment for any of these MPs’ relatives in their employment can be 13 months.

Ref:
FOI2011-072
Disclosure:
20 June 2011
Categories:
MPs' STAFFING
Exemptions Applied:
Section 22