Rules permitting MPs to claim for Christmas cards

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

The information you have requested is subject to a refusal notice under section 21 of the FOIA. Further details about this exemption have been provided below.

MPs may only claim for business costs incurred as part of their parliamentary functions. The focus is, therefore, not on specific items, but on the relevance to an MP’s parliamentary function.

The rules and principles for claiming staffing and business costs are set out in The Scheme of MPs’ Staffing and Business Costs. (the Scheme).

Information about how we check claims is available at A guide to MPs’ staffing and business costs.

The Parliamentary Standards Act is the legislation that underpins ‘The Scheme’. More information about IPSA and our regulatory role can be found on our website. The links below may be helpful to you:

https://www.theipsa.org.uk/who-we-are

https://www.theipsa.org.uk/what-we-do

The FOIA states that information that is accessible by means other than through a freedom of information request is not subject to release.

Therefore, as some of the information you have requested is already available on our website, or in the public domain, it is exempt from disclosure under section 21 of the FOIA.

This means that IPSA does not need to supply you with actual copies of this information but does need to direct you to the place where it may be found.