Travel claims made by Jenny Chapman MP

Request

I would like to request the travel expenses for Jenny Chapman MP for Darlington for the 2014/15 year. Please provide me with information of train journeys she has taken including where she began her journey and where she ended her journey. Please provide travel information for the MP.


Response

IPSA holds the information that you request.

You may be aware that IPSA publishes all claims for business costs and expenses on our website every two months, three months in arrears. You can view the published information via this link to our publication website.

The following instructions may assist you in filtering the information:

  1. Select ‘Search Function’ via the menu bar at the top of the page.

  2. Under ‘Select MP(s), Constituencies, Postcode or Region’ tick the box to select all MPs.

  3. Under ‘Select a year and, optionally, month(s)’, select 2014-15.

  4. Under ‘Select category(s) of Business Cost or Expense’, select ‘Travel’.

  5. Under ‘Select type(s) of Business Cost or Expense’, select the expense type you are seeking information on.

  6. Click ‘Find’ to retrieve the results. You can export this data to a spreadsheet format via the link at the top right-hand corner of the page. This will provide you with location information, where it has been provided, and where it would not prejudice the MP’s security to provide it.

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).

Not all of the claims for the 2014-15 financial year have yet been published. You can find the publication schedule for MPs’ expense claim on our website.

Some of the information you have requested is therefore intended for publication at a future date. 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. It is our opinion that the public interest is best served by publishing a full list rather than on an ad hoc basis, as in this way a clear and complete set of information is published, avoiding any potential confusion. It is for this reason that the application of the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure at this stage.

Ref:
CAS-14411
Disclosure:
12 May 2015
Categories:
MPs' TRAVEL
Exemptions Applied:
Section 21