Receipts submitted by Chris Law for office costs and travel

Under the MPs’ Scheme of Business Costs and Expenses (‘the Scheme’), all claims for reimbursement under the Scheme must be supported by evidence. You can view a copy of the Scheme on our website via this link. As such, we hold all supporting documentation provided in support of claims made by MPs.

The following information has already been published on our publication website relating to claim 451986 submitted by Chris Law MP.

Please click here to download the invoices submitted by Mr Law in support of the claims.

Exemptions applied

Section 31 – law enforcement

We have withheld some information under Section 31(1)(a) (Law enforcement) of the FOI Act, largely relating to the financial arrangements of MPs and their suppliers. This section of the Act 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. 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 security of MPs and their property outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Section 38 – health and safety

We have withheld the specific locations of hotels regularly utilised by the MP, as well as specific times of travel, under Section 38(1)(b) (Health and safety) of the FOI Act. This section of the Act states that information is exempt if its disclosure under the FOI Act would, or would be likely to, endanger the safety of any individual. 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 likely that this information could be used to endanger the safety of the individuals who, for example, rely upon these locations for overnight accommodation on a regular basis. Although we recognise the public interest in transparency surrounding the publishing of this information there is also a strong public interest in ensuring that as an organisation we are able to protect our service users from threats to their safety. In our opinion the public interest in protecting the personal safety of MPs’ outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Section 40 – personal information

A small amount information, such as the name and address of a third parties, is ‘personal data’, as defined by the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). Section 40(2) of the FOIA provides that personal information about third parties (as defined by the DPA) is exempt information if disclosure would breach the fair processing principle (Principle 1) of the DPA, where it would be unfair to those persons or is confidential. You can find out more information about personal data, and the relationship of the DPA with the FOIA via guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on their website: http://ico.org.uk.