Names of hotel stayed at for hotel claims

Request

For the following expenses claims, to which hotel was the money paid?

  • 309857 Andrew Lansley £450

  • 311143 Andrew Bridgen £600

  • 303096 Angus MacNeil £450

  • 303215 Annette Brook £150

  • 304648 Brandon Lewis £600

  • 303060 Crispin Blunt £150

  • 309556 Damian Hinds £121

  • 309748 Dan Poulter £450

  • 303371 David Lidington £450

  • 303132 Gavin Shuker £104

  • 309642 Geraint Davies £150

  • 306491 Graham Stringer £450

  • 305795 Grant Shapps £150

  • 309605 James Arbuthnot £600

  • 303277 Jamie Reed £450

  • 303263 Mark Simmonds £150

  • 303405 Stephen Gilbert £450


Response

IPSA holds the information that you request.

Members of Parliament are permitted, under the MPs’ Scheme of Business Costs and Expenses (‘the Scheme’), to claim for expenses legitimately incurred whilst carrying out their parliamentary duties and are required to certify that this is the case before submitting claims.  This may include any food or drink costs incurred for the purpose of hospitality, or overnight accommodation at a hotel, up to a maximum cost of £150 per night in the London Area, or £120 elsewhere in the United Kingdom. 

Please find at Annex A (below) the information requested, accompanied by the information already published on our website describing each claim.

As you will see from the attached Annex, while we have released information relating to the name of the hotel brand, we have withheld the exact location of the hotel to which 15 of the 17 claims you requested relate.  We have withheld this information under Section 38(1)(b) (Health and safety) of the FOI Act. This section of the Act states that information is exempt if its disclosure under the FOI Act would, or would be likely to, endanger the safety of any individual. 

After considering the nature of the withheld information it is our opinion that were a disclosure to be made into the public domain it is likely that this information could be used to endanger the safety of the individuals who rely upon these locations for accommodation. Although we recognise the public interest in transparency surrounding the publishing of this information there is also a strong public interest in ensuring that as an organisation we are able to protect our service users from threats to their safety, which is achieved through our capacity to withhold certain information from disclosure. This is also in line with our stated publication policy.  It is for this reason that we have decided that the application of the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Information published on our website, and information released under your requests

MP NameClaim numberHotel Name
Andrew Lansley309857Park Plaza [Location redacted]
Andrew Bridgen311143Park Plaza [Location redacted]
Angus MacNeil303096Park Plaza [Location redacted]
Annette Brooke303215Park Plaza [Location redacted]
Brandon Lewis304648Park Plaza [Location redacted]
Crispin Blunt303060Park Plaza [Location redacted]
Damian Hinds309556Hilton London Docklands, Riverside[1]
Dan Poulter309748Intercontinental, [Location redacted]
David Lidington303371Park Plaza [Location redacted]
Gavin Shuker303132Royal Windsor Hotel, Grand Place, Brussels
Geraint Davies309642Thistle [Location redacted]
Graham Stringer306491Intercontinental, [Location redacted]
Grant Shapps305795Park Plaza [Location redacted]
James Arbuthnot309605Park Plaza [Location redacted]
Jamie Reed303277Park Plaza [Location redacted]
Mark Simmonds303263Park Plaza [Location redacted]
Stephen Gilbert303405Park Plaza [Location redacted]

[1] The exemption has not been applied in this case, as Mr Hinds expressly requested we not redact the exact location of the hotel.

Ref:
F1314-245
Disclosure:
21 April 2014
Categories:
GENERAL EXPENSES ENQUIRYMPs' ACCOMMODATIONMPs' TRAVEL
Exemptions Applied:
Section 38