Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI), anyone has the right to request information that we hold.
We publish most responses to these requests on this website.
We also publish details of all claims made about MPs’ staffing and business costs regularly.
Find out more about MPs’ staffing & business costs and our Publication Scheme.
If you would like to make a new request, please consider the following advice.
If your request relates to something other than MPs’ pay, business costs, or IPSA itself, then we may not hold the information you are looking for.
We may have already published the information you are seeking.
Details of all claims made by MPs’ business costs are published on this website, and you can search all previous FOI responses.
When making a request, please include:
your name
an address for our response (post or email)
a full description of the information required
If you wish to make an FOI request, please email FOI@theipsa.org.uk.
When we receive your request, we will respond within 20 working days.
If you are unhappy with the response you receive, you can request an internal review.
In line with government advice, IPSA's office is currently closed and staff are working from home.
We are keen to ensure that we can continue to support you as much as possible during this period of remote working with minimal impact on our service.
We strongly advise you not to send information requests to us by post as we have very limited and irregular access to our London office. There are likely to be significant delays between mail being delivered to the office and us collecting it for processing.
We will continue to receive and process any requests sent by email.
Our Freedom of Information publication Scheme lists the types of information that we publish, or intend to publish. Virtually all of this information can be downloaded free of charge.
Information about MPs’ business costs can be found by visiting MPs’ staffing and business costs and our Guide to MPs’ staffing & business costs.
We publish information on the volume of requests received each year.
| Financial year | Number of requests |
| 2019 - 2020 | 150 |
| 2018 - 2019 | 120 |
| 2017 - 2018 | 93 |
| 2016 - 2017 | 129 |
| 2015 - 2016 | 240 |
| 2014 - 2015 | 164 |
| 2013 - 2014 | 246 |
| 2012 - 2013 | 184 |
| 2011 - 2012 | 97 |
| 2010 - 2011 | 161 |
| 2009 - 2010 | 8 |
| Type | Volume |
| Number of requests received | 93 |
| Number of requests responded to within statutory timeframe | 100% |
| Average response time (working days) | 14 |
| Number of internal review requests received | 6 |
| Number of ICO complaints | 0 |
| Information disclosed | Percentage of requests |
| Information already in the public domain | 9.89% |
| Information not held | 19.78% |
| Not released in full | 14.29% |
| Released in full | 19.78% |
| Released in part | 36.26% |
| Requester | Number of requesters |
| Journalist | 22 |
| Member of the public | 63 |
| MP | 2 |
| MP Staff | 2 |
| Overseas | 1 |
| Political campaigner | 3 |
| Category | Number of requests |
| Contingency funding | 2 |
| Copies of receipts / invoices | 30 |
| Correspondence | 4 |
| Debt | 4 |
| General expenses enquiry | 3 |
| IPSA – Board | 1 |
| IPSA – Financial | 4 |
| IPSA – Operations | 5 |
| IPSA – Policy | 2 |
| IPSA – Staff | 3 |
| MPs' connected parties | 2 |
| MPs' office costs | 4 |
| MPs' pay and pensions | 2 |
| MPs' staffing | 19 |
| Not IPSA's remit | 1 |
| Security assistance | 4 |
| Travel | 2 |
| Winding-up | 1 |
| Type | Volume |
| Number of requests received | 128 |
| Number of requests responded to within statutory timeframe | 100% |
| Average response time (working days) | 16 |
| Number of internal review requests received | 7 |
| Number of ICO complaints | 1 |
| Information disclosed | Percentage of requests |
| Information already in the public domain | 10.17% |
| Information not held | 11.86% |
| Not released in full | 11.02% |
| Released in full | 27.12% |
| Released in part | 39.83% |
| Requester | Number of requesters |
| Journalist | 39 |
| Member of the public | 87 |
| MP | 1 |
| MP Staff | 2 |
| Category | Number of requests |
| Accommodation | 8 |
| Compliance Officer for IPSA | 1 |
| Connected parties | 7 |
| Contingency funding | 1 |
| Copies of receipts / invoices | 42 |
| Correspondence | 3 |
| Debt | 4 |
| Disability assistance | 2 |
| General expenses enquiry | 13 |
| IPSA – Board | 3 |
| IPSA – Financial | 4 |
| IPSA – Operations | 1 |
| IPSA – Policy | 1 |
| IPSA – Staff | 7 |
| MPs' office costs | 1 |
| MPs' pay and pensions | 13 |
| Office costs | 6 |
| Security | 3 |
| Staffing | 8 |
| Winding-up | 1 |
Discover how and why MPs claim for their staffing and business costs.
Read about MPs’ staffing and business costs