Office winding up costs of Louise Mensch

IPSA holds does not hold the information that you request.

Under the MPs’ Scheme of Business Costs and Expenses (the ‘Scheme’), claims for winding up expenditure may be made to “to meet the cost of completing the outstanding parliamentary functions of a person who ceases to be an MP”.  Claims for winding up expenditure may only be claimed for business costs and expenses incurred during the two month period after leaving Parliament.  The Scheme allows a maximum of 90 days for submission of claims after a business cost or expense has been incurred. 

As you have been made aware by my colleague, the claims published on our website on 10 January cover claims processed between August and September 2012.  The timetable for incurring and submitting claims for winding up was provided to you in response to your previous request (FOI2012-A068) and, therefore, you will be aware that publication of those claims will follow in following publication releases.

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.