A request for information about MP Boris Johnson's trip in 2018
Request
The information I am requesting pertains to Boris Johnson MP's (now PM) trip to Saudi Arabia between 19 – 21 September 2018, as disclosed in his expenses declaration. For your ease of access, I have copy pasted the relevant trip, from the declaration link.
Name of donor: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Address of donor: PO Box 55937, Riyadh 11544
Estimate of the probable value (or amount of any donation): Travel, food and accommodation, estimated value of £14,000
Destination of visit: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Dates of visit: 19 – 21 September 2018
Purpose of visit: Meeting with regional figures to promote education for women and girls. (Registered 17 October 2018)
I would like to request a) a copy of the full schedule/itinerary from that visit, broken down into location, date/time, who was met with, and any usual details included in the itinerary.
b) a copy of any and all information (in whatever form eg. memos, reports, schedules, Whatsapp and other messages, emails) related to this visit, including risk assessments prior to the visit and any internal reports following it.
c) any multimedia from the visit eg. photo ops, etc that may have been circulated internally.
I would like the information in electronic format. If this work is expected to exceed £449 in cost, you must justify such limit by providing a full breakdown of the time taken to find and redact the documents.
Please confirm the receipt of this request to ensure compliance within 20 working days as per the FOI Act.
Response
IPSA does not hold any of the information you have requested. The reason for this is that IPSA sets, administers and regulates MPs’ staffing and business costs only. You can find out more information about IPSA and what we do on our website.
Mr Johnson’s trip in 2018 was paid for by the donor listed on the website and would have been privately arranged, which means that there is no way of accessing this information by making a request under the FOIA. As I am sure you are aware MPs themselves are not subject to the legislation.
You can find out more about the Freedom of Information Act on the website of the Information Commissioner.
And information on costs (called the appropriate limit).
I am sorry that I am unable to assist you further.
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- Ref:
- RFI-202104-07
- Disclosure:
- 8 April 2021
- Categories:
- MPs' TRAVELGENERAL EXPENSES ENQUIRY
- Exemptions Applied: