MPs' using Give-as-you-earn (GAYE) programme

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

Some of the information you have requested is subject to a Refusal Notice under sections 40(2) and 40(3A)(a) of the FOIA. Further details about this exemption are provided below.

We can confirm the current number of MPs and parties of those who have chosen to engage the give-as-you-earn (GAYE) programme.

• Conservative – 8 MPs

• Labour – 4 MPs

• Scottish National – 1 MP

There are, of course, many different ways of donating to charity, and we would not necessarily know if an MP was making donations to charity once they had received their salary.

In terms of the information for the previous year, we provided your organisation with this in our response to your request from 2022-23, Ref. RFI-202207-26. Should you need another copy, the response can be found in the FOI Disclosure Log.

Sections 40(2) and 40(3A)(a) – personal data

This exemption applies to information which 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

If an MP wishes to make a donation to charity out of their salary, then that is a matter for them. IPSA, therefore, determines that the name of the MPs and the amounts they chose to give is their personal data. 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 Article 5(1)(a):

Personal data shall be:

a. processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent matter in relation to the data subject

Donations to charity are typically a private matter and an individual would not, therefore, have a reasonable expectation that details of their private charitable donations, which are their personal data, would be made publicly available. We are therefore withholding the names of the individual MPs and the amounts they donate under section 40.