Feedback received by IPSA

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

You asked for information by calendar years, however, IPSA works on financial years from 31 March to 01 April as defined in the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 and therefore collects information on this basis.

Requests for information, complaints and internal reviews

We have understood this to mean those requests, complaints and internal reviews received under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, however, if you meant something else, please let us know.

We have received the following number in each financial year:

*It is a statutory requirement under section 10(1) of the FOIA that requests are dealt with promptly and within 20 working days following the date of receipt. The only occasions on which a response would not be sent is where a public authority has not received the clarification that it has requested (section 1(3)), or has not received payment for a Fees Notice (section 9(2)). IPSA has responded to all the requests which it has received.

**There is no requirement in the FOIA for a public authority to provide a complaints/internal review process, however, IPSA has adopted the good practice (under the section 45 code of practice) and will review complaints relating to how a request has been handled and decisions which have been made to refuse some or all of the information requested.

Complaints

The type of complaints which fall within IPSA's remit is defined on the Making a Complaint page on our website, where you can also find our Feedback and Complaints Policy.

We publish information about the complaints we receive in our annual reports and accounts which are on the Annual Reports section of our website. As this information is already in the public domain it is subject to a Refusal Notice under section 21 of the FOIA, because it is reasonably accessible by other means.

Comments and other feedback

Prior to April 2022, IPSA received feedback, but there was no requirement for us to report on the amount received or if any response which was sent.

In April 2022 IPSA introduced the new Feedback and Complaints Policy, to which reference was made in the "Complaints" section above.

This means that all feedback is now captured by our system and should be categorised as such so it can be identified and a response sent. The numbers received since the introduction of the new policy are below.

*IPSA received a large volume of feedback in relation to the guidance it issued on Christmas parties.