MPs engaging unpaid interns
Request
I would like to make an FOI request to find out how many paid and unpaid interns each member of parliament has had since May 2010?
Also how many of these interns were on foreign study programmes?
Response
The information we hold all relates to volunteers: individuals registered with IPSA by Members of Parliament for the purpose of claiming for incidental expenses such as lunch and travel to and from work, but who are not entitled to receive a salary. This includes individuals undertaking work experience, which may be as short as a few days, and those on student placements, or those undertaking internships with MPs. “Unpaid interns” are, by definition, volunteers and we do not hold information on “interns” separately. Therefore, the fact that an MP has been included does not mean that they have necessarily taken any unpaid interns.
Each volunteer must complete a volunteer registration via the online expenses system and complete and send to IPSA a model volunteer agreement.
MPs may call some of their salaried staff “interns”. These staff may be paid below the normal IPSA pay scales and may have reduced responsibilities, but must be paid at least the national minimum wage. These individuals are not required to complete volunteer registrations and are not separately identifiable from other salaried staff paid through IPSA’s payroll. The numbers provided in our response do not, therefore, include any individuals who fall within this category.
In our response to your earlier FOI request of 27 February 2013 (reference FOI2013-A192), in which you asked for the number of interns taken on by MPs since May 2010, we provided a list of the number of volunteers each MP had registered with IPSA to claim incidental expenses since IPSA began operations in May 2010, correct as at the time of your request. Our response to your FOI request was both provided to you and published on the Freedom of Information section of IPSA’s website.
The FOIA states that information that is accessible by other means is not subject to release. Therefore, as the information you have requested, which has already been provided to you under a previous FOI request, is available on our website, it is exempt from disclosure under section 21 of the FOIA (information accessible to applicant by other means).
Annex A, therefore, lists, by MP, the number of individuals each MP has registered with IPSA to claim incidental expenses since the time of your last request.
That a volunteer is registered does not indicate that claims for incidental expenses have been submitted to IPSA. The information also does not indicate the number of individuals volunteering at any one time, nor does it point to the length of time individuals have been registered as volunteers, although the period will often be short. We publish details of MPs’ claims for expenses on our website. You may view the published information by visiting our publication website. Details of claims for expenses are published in a two month cycle, three months in arrears.
We do not hold information relating to the second part of your request.
MP Name | Count |
Debbie Abrahams | 1 |
Nigel Adams | 1 |
Peter Aldous | 1 |
Rushanara Ali | 2 |
Stuart Andrew | 1 |
Norman Baker | 1 |
Gordon Banks | 1 |
Gregory Barker | 1 |
John Baron | 1 |
Gavin Barwell | 2 |
Henry Bellingham | 1 |
Hilary Benn | 1 |
Luciana Berger | 1 |
Jake Berry | 1 |
Nick Boles | 1 |
Peter Bone | 1 |
Ben Bradshaw | 4 |
Graham Brady | 2 |
Tom Brake | 2 |
Julian Brazier | 2 |
Kevin Brennan | 1 |
Andy Burnham | 3 |
David Burrowes | 1 |
Paul Burstow | 2 |
Lorely Burt | 1 |
Daniel Byles | 1 |
David Cameron | 4 |
Mary Creagh | 5 |
Nick Dakin | 3 |
Simon Danczuk | 1 |
Geraint Davies | 1 |
Caroline Dinenage | 2 |
Jack Dromey | 3 |
Louise Ellman | 1 |
Graham Evans | 1 |
Paul Farrelly | 1 |
Tim Farron | 1 |
Lynne Featherstone | 3 |
Caroline Flint | 1 |
George Freeman | 3 |
Mark Garnier | 1 |
Andrew George | 2 |
Nick Gibb | 1 |
Stephen Gilbert | 1 |
Richard Graham | 1 |
Helen Grant | 1 |
Dominic Grieve | 1 |
Nia Griffith | 1 |
Ben Gummer | 1 |
Duncan Hames | 2 |
Matthew Hancock | 2 |
David Hanson | 1 |
Nick Harvey | 1 |
Oliver Heald | 1 |
Meg Hillier | 4 |
Julie Hilling | 1 |
Sharon Hodgson | 2 |
Adam Holloway | 8 |
Martin Horwood | 2 |
Simon Hughes | 3 |
Nick Hurd | 1 |
Glenda Jackson | 2 |
Stewart Jackson | 1 |
Margot James | 3 |
Andrew Jones | 1 |
Barbara Keeley | 1 |
David Lammy | 4 |
Andrew Lansley | 1 |
Pauline Latham | 2 |
Mark Lazarowicz | 1 |
Phillip Lee | 1 |
David Lidington | 2 |
Stephen Lloyd | 2 |
Andy Love | 1 |
Ian Lucas | 1 |
Mary MacLeod | 1 |
Seema Malhotra | 2 |
Kerry McCarthy | 1 |
Siobhain McDonagh | 1 |
Pat McFadden | 1 |
Alison McGovern | 1 |
Ann McKechin | 1 |
Austin Mitchell | 3 |
Michael Moore | 5 |
Greg Mulholland | 5 |
Meg Munn | 1 |
Tessa Munt | 1 |
Caroline Nokes | 2 |
Stephen O'Brien | 1 |
Guy Opperman | 2 |
John Penrose | 1 |
Dominic Raab | 2 |
Mark Reckless | 5 |
Rachel Reeves | 3 |
Dan Rogerson | 3 |
Frank Roy | 1 |
Anas Sarwar | 2 |
Andy Sawford | 2 |
Barry Sheerman | 2 |
Gavin Shuker | 1 |
Andy Slaughter | 2 |
Henry Smith | 1 |
Rory Stewart | 3 |
John Thurso | 1 |
Stephen Timms | 11 |
Elizabeth Truss | 6 |
Andrew Turner | 1 |
Martin Vickers | 1 |
Robert Walter | 1 |
David Ward | 2 |
Gavin Williamson | 1 |
Rob Wilson | 2 |
Pete Wishart | 1 |
Is this page helpful?
- Ref:
- F1314-118
- Disclosure:
- 9 October 2013
- Categories:
- MPs' STAFFING
- Exemptions Applied:
- None