FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST – ORIGINAL RESPONSE (13 JANUARY 2011)
Reference Number:
FOI122
Date of disclosure:
13 January 2011
Request summary:
Receipts for 3 MPs' expense claims
Exemptions used:
Section 31, Section 40
NOTE: Following the decision of the Court of Appeal in the case of the Independent Parliamentary
Standards Authority v The Information Commissioner & Anor, further information was provided in
response to the request. This is the original response. The updated response can be found via this link.
(20 May 2015)
Request:
I would like to see the original receipts submitted by several MPs in support of expenses claims
during the period May-August 2010. IPSA has published details of the claims on its website, but
has not published the original receipts (despite the High Court ruling in May 2008 that the
disclosure of receipts was in the public interest.) The receipts I would like to see relate to the
claims: Claim Ref No. 11770 - John Bercow - £652.13 - "general admin" - "Website
design/production" - 01.07.2010 Claim Ref No 14434 - Alan Keen - £63.61 - "general admin" "stationery/banner" - 02.07.2010 Claim Ref No 14055 - George Osborne - £145.70 - "general
admin" - "headed paper" - 27.05.2010 Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need to clarify
any aspect of this request. Whilst I would prefer to see the original receipts in unredacted form, I
appreciate that elements may need to be redacted for security reasons.
Response:
I can confirm that IPSA holds the information that falls within the description specified in your
request.
IPSA will not, as a matter of course, publish images of receipts or invoices supporting claims. We
believe that the information we proactively publish on IPSA’s Publication website
www.parliamentary-standards.org.uk provides a significant amount of detail and gives a clear
picture of what MPs are claiming for and affords reassurance that claims are both appropriate for
MPs to carry out their parliamentary functions, and in accordance with the rules set out in the MPs’
Expenses Scheme.
You requested a copy of the receipts for the following:
 Claim Ref No. 11770 - John Bercow - £652.13 - "general admin" - "Website
design/production" - 01.07.2010
 Claim Ref No 14434 - Alan Keen - £63.61 - "general admin" - "stationery/banner" 02.07.2010
 Claim Ref No 14055 - George Osborne - £145.70 - "general admin" - "headed paper" 27.05.2010
The following tables provide the information released on IPSA’s publication website relating to
these claims, as well as all additional information contained on the invoice. Please note that we
have withheld the invoice number, BACS codes and account numbers. We have withheld this
information under Section 31(1)(a) (Law enforcement) of the FOI Act. This section of the Act states
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST – ORIGINAL RESPONSE (13 JANUARY 2011)
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 invoice information
there is also a strong public interest in ensuring that as an organisation we are able to protect our
service users from the threat of being subjected to criminal activity, which is achieved through our
capacity to withhold certain information from disclosure. It is for this reason that we have decided
that the application of the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
We have also withheld information regarding the home address of Mr Alan Keen MP under section
40 (personal information) of the FOI Act as the information constitutes third party data. Section
40(2) provides that personal data about third parties is exempt information if one of the conditions
set out in section 40(3) is satisfied. (Please see
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/contents). Under the FOI Act disclosure of this
information would breach the fair processing principle contained in the Data Protection Act (DPA),
where it would be unfair to those persons or is confidential.
INFORMATION DISCLOSED – JOHN BERCOW MP
Information
published on
IPSA website
Additional
information
extracted
from invoice
and
releasable
under the FOI
Act
Claim ref no:
Name of Member:
Financial Year:
Expense Category:
Expense type:
Amount:
Transaction date:
Short Description:
Details:
Address invoice sent to:
Name of supplier:
Contact details of supplier:
Tax/Invoice date:
Invoice details:
11770
John Bercow MP
2010-11
General Admin
Website – Design/ Production
£652.13
01/07/2010
GA 140710
Butter Mountain Ltd
Rt Hon John Bercow MP
Speaker’s House
London
SW1A 0AA
Buttermountain Limited
Buttermountain Limited
36 Ringshall
Berkhamsted
Herts
HP4 1ND
Tel: 01442 843 188
01/07/2010
Quantity:
Details:
1.00
Website production and design: Fully
managed with daily updates and subeditorial services. Stock image
photography. Period 1 July 2010 to 30
September 2010.
Unit price:
Net amount:
VAT Rate:
VAT:
555.00
555.00
17.50
97.13
Total net amount:
Carriage Net:
Total VAT amount:
Invoice Total:
Other information on invoice:
555.00
0.00
97.13
652.13
Invoice page 1
Including local people in your work in
Parliament
Payment due 30 days from date of invoice.
Please make cheques payable to:Buttermountain Limited
BACs Lloyds TSB
VAT Number: GB 898 3871 46
INFORMATION DISCLOSED – JOHN BERCOW MP
Adams reorder code LZUSG6
Date stamp by IPSA:
7 Jul 2010
INFORMATION DISCLOSED – ALAN KEEN MP
Information
published on
IPSA website
Additional
information
extracted
from invoice
and
releasable
under the FOI
Act
Claim ref no:
Name of Member:
Financial Year:
Expense Category:
Expense type:
Amount:
Transaction date:
Short Description:
Details:
Invoice sent to:
Address invoice charged and
delivered to:
Name of supplier:
Contact details of supplier:
Invoice date:
Invoice details:
Line No.
Product Code:
Product Description:
Quantity U.O.M:
Unit Price:
Tax Date:
Line Total (excl VAT):
VAT rate:
Line VAT:
Sales Order Total (VAT excl)
Invoice Goods:
Invoice V.A.T:
Invoice Total:
Other information on invoice:
14434
Alan Keen MP
2010-11
General Admin
Stationery Purchase
£63.61
02/07/2010
Stationary - Banner
Misc
Alan Keen MP
[Address withheld]
TW8
Alan Keen MP
Feltham & Heston
Room 541 – Portcullis House
House of Commons
London SW1A 2LA
Banner Business Services Limited
Banner Business Services Limited
Cashier
PO Box 524
St Crispins
Duke Street
Norwich NR3 1QU
Customer Services:
Telephone No: 0845 712 5926
Fax No: 0845 712 5927
02/07/2010
1
0987797
CANON LBP2900/3000 BLACK TONER
CANON LBP/3000 BLACK TONER
CARTRIDGE 7616A005AA
1 EACH
54.1400
01/07/10
54.14
17.50
9.47
54.14
54.14
9.47
63.61
Page 1 of 1
INFORMATION DISCLOSED – ALAN KEEN MP
Order date: 29/06/2010
Queries to:
[email protected]
Thank you.
VAT registration: GB 731 8604 39
Settlement discount terms: None.
66/1
Payment Slip
Please see reverse for terms of business
and how to pay
Please return the slip from final page of
invoice with your payment by 30/07/2010.
INFORMATION DISCLOSED – GEORGE OSBOURNE MP
Information
published on
IPSA website
Additional
information
extracted
from invoice
and
releasable
under the FOI
Act
Claim ref no:
Name of Member:
Financial Year:
Expense Category:
Expense type:
Amount:
Transaction date:
Short Description:
Details:
Address invoice sent to:
Name of supplier:
Contact details of supplier:
Date/Tax point:
Invoice details:
Details:
Net price:
VAT:
Details:
14055
George Osborne MP
2010-11
General Admin
Stationery Purchase
£145.70
27/05/2010
General Admin
Headed Paper
George Osborne MP
Chancellor of the Exchequer
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
Langford Printers Ltd
Unit 2, Chaucer Business Park, Kemsing,
Sevenoaks, Kent, TN15 6PL
T:01732 760400
F:01732 763104
E:[email protected]
W: www.langfordprinters.co.uk
27/05/2010
750 x A4 Green House of Commons
Letterheads
42.00
7.35
Net price:
VAT:
750 x A4 Green House of Commons
Letterheads
42.00
7.35
Details:
2 x New plate and artwork charge
Net price:
VAT:
40.00
7.00
Total net:
Total VAT:
Invoice Total:
124.00
21.70
145.70
Other information on invoice:
Please make cheques payable to Langford
Printers Limited. If you wish to pay directly
our banking details are as follows:
HSBC, 249 High Street, Orpington, Kent BR6
0NR.
VAT Registration number: 797 1586 02
INFORMATION DISCLOSED – GEORGE OSBOURNE MP
Company incorporation number: 6766583
Date paid by MP:
Registered office address: 132 Burnt Ash
Road, Lee, London SE12 8PU.
17.06.10