Request for copies of invoices for claims made by Colin Clark MP

Request

I would like to see copies of any invoices for these claim made my Colin Clark MP under a FOI request.

  • 1/11/17 for £3600 for office security – claim ref 618554.

  • 25/10/18 for £500 Computer software – claim 689055.

  • Internet Rental/usage – claims 662134 (same number 3 times 1/4/18), 662134 5/4/18, 662134 3/5/18, 662134 4/6/18

  • Const Office Gas – claims 654532 dates 3/4/18, claim 667027 20/6/18 (claims x 2), claim 682684 7/9/18

He has also claimed £14,388.16 between 1/4/18 and 6/9/18 for Const Office rent – I would like to see proof of what dates that covers – sorry no claim references on your website.


Response

IPSA holds the information that you request.

Under the Scheme of MPs’ Business Costs and Expenses (‘the Scheme’), an office costs budget is provided to meet the costs of renting, equipping and running MPs’ constituency offices. Most claims for reimbursement made under the Scheme should be accompanied by supporting evidence.

Form no1Form Type2Date of claimsExpense typeDetailsReimbursedNotes
618554EXPENSES: Office costs01/11/2017Const. Office adaptationSecurity alterations£3,600.00
689055EXPENSES: Payment Card25/10/2018Computer Elected Technologies£500.00
662134Constituency office bills01/04/2018Internet Rental/usage Broadband£126.24For Jan 2018
662134Constituency office bills01/04/2018Internet Rental/usage Broadband£126.24For Feb 2018
662134Constituency office bills01/04/2018Internet Rental/usage Broadband£126.24For Mar 2018
662134Constituency office bills01/04/2018Internet Rental/usage Broadband£126.24For April 2018
662134Constituency office bills05/04/2018Internet Rental/usage Broadband£50.64
662134Constituency office bills04/06/2018Internet Rental/usage Broadband£126.24
654532EXPENSES: Payment Card03/04/2018Const Office GasGazprom Marketing &TR£963.22
654532EXPENSES: Payment Card20/06/2018Const Office GasGazprom Marketing &TR£59.76
667027EXPENSES: Payment Card20/06/2018Const Office GasGazprom Energy£228.25
667027EXPENSES: Payment Card20/06/2018Const Office GasGazprom Energy£125.91
682684EXPENSES: Payment Card07/09/2018Const Office GasGazprom Energy£104.22For July 2018
682684EXPENSES: Payment Card07/09/2018Const Office GasGazprom Energy£94.00For August 2018

In relation to rent, once an MP registers their property with us and provides us with a copy of their lease, then they are not required to submit individual expense claims for each month covered by the lease. Paragraph 3 of Annex C of the Scheme, sets out the conditions under which IPSA will pay MPs’ accommodation direct to Landlords.

Please note, we have redacted payment information from the receipts and the leases under section 31 and section 40 of the FOIA. More information on these exemptions can be found below.

Exemptions applied

Section 31 – Law enforcement

Section 31(1)(a) (Law enforcement) of the FOIA states that information is exempt if its disclosure under the FOI Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice the prevention (or detection) or crime.

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 probable that this information could be traced back to sensitive personal or commercial information which could be used for criminal activity. Although we recognise the public interest in transparency surrounding the publishing of information relating to MPs’ expenses there is also a strong public interest in ensuring that we are able to protect our service users from the threat of being subjected to criminal activity. In our opinion the public interest in protecting the financial security of staff and volunteers engaged by MPs outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Section 40 – personal information

Section 40(2) provides that personal information (as defined by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)) about third parties is exempt information if disclosure would breach the fair processing principle (Principle 1), or is confidential.

Having considered the nature of the withheld personal data, we do not believe that it would be within the named individuals’ reasonable expectations to release their personal information in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. We have therefore withheld this information.

Section 40 is an absolute exemption so the public interest test does not apply.

This concludes our response to your request.

Ref:
CAS-139473
Disclosure:
14 May 2019
Categories:
COPIES OF RECEIPTS/INVOICESMPs' OFFICE COSTS
Exemptions Applied:
Section 31, Section 40