Amounts outstanding for deposit loans and advances at January 1st 2015

IPSA holds the information that you request.

Members of Parliament are permitted, under the MPs’ Scheme of Business Costs and Expenses (‘the Scheme’), to apply to IPSA for a loan to cover any deposit payable at the commencement of a tenancy. This is repayable in full no later than one month after the date on which the tenancy comes to an end, or when the MP leaves office (whichever is earlier).

MPs may also apply for an advance of up to £4,000. This is repayable, in full, by the end of the Parliament.

Details of these loans, including the amounts outstanding, are published on our website as part of our regular publication scheme.

The following instructions may assist in locating this information.

1. Select ‘Aggregate Data’ via the menu bar at the top of the page.

2. Select a financial year.

3. Select the link for ‘other data’ on the right-hand side, which will open a spreadsheet.

The FOIA states that information that is accessible by other means is not subject to release. Therefore, as the information you have requested is already available on our website, it is exempt from disclosure under section 21 of the FOIA (information accessible to applicant by other means).

This information was last published on 11 September 2014, which provided details of the balance at 31 March 2014. The balance at 31 March 2015 will be published, as part of our annual publication, on 10 September 2015.

Section 22(1) of the FOIA states that information intended for future publication is exempt from release.

We have considered whether the public interest in releasing the information outweighs the application of the exemption. We have a clear publication policy that sets out what information is intended for regular publication, alongside when it will be published. This is clear – and fair - to both the public and to MPs. We do not believe that there is a public interest in this information being published on an ad hoc basis. It is for this reason that we believe the application of the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure at this stage.