Requests for copies of receipts relating to Angela Rayner MP

Request

A copy of the receipt/invoice submitted with claim numbers 60043702 & 60047177.


Response

I can confirm that we hold information relevant to your request.

Copies of the documents accompany this response.

Some information has been redacted and is subject to a Refusal Notice under sections 31 and 40 of the FOIA, and in accordance with IPSA’s Publication Policy which states that we will redact banking, other financial information and personal details. The Publication Policy is available on our website.

Section 31(1)(a)

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. This exemption has been applied to a small amount of financial information such as in invoice and customer account numbers, and serial numbers. 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 MPs outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

IPSA therefore maintains that the public interest in withholding this information outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

Sections 40(2) and 40(3A)(a)

This exemption applies to information with IPSA considers to be personal data within the meaning of Article 4(1) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation 2016 (UK GDPR) which states:

‘personal data’ means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly.

IPSA considered that the following are personal data within this definition: banking and financial information; personal addresses including personal email address; third party information. We then considered whether disclosure of this personal data would breach any of the Principles relating to the processing of personal data in the UK GDPR.

The relevant principle is at Article 5(1)(a):

Personal data shall be:

a. Processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject

As IPSA was unable to find a lawful basis on which it could rely, within Article 6 of the UK GDPR, it therefore finds that the information is exempt under section 40.

Ref:
RFI-202101-17
Disclosure:
16 February 2021
Categories:
COPIES OF RECEIPTS/INVOICESMPs' OFFICE COSTS
Exemptions Applied:
Section 31(1)(a), Section 40(2), Section 40(3A)(a)