Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant requested a breakdown of the travel expenses claimed by individual MPs over the past three years in the following three categories: car travel, rail travel and air travel. An aggregate figure for travel expenses for each MP is already published but this figure is not broken down into different categories of transport, as the complaint requested. The House of Commons withheld the information on the basis that it was exempt under section 40(2) of the Act. The Commissioner found that the requested information is personal information which can be disclosed without contravening any of the principles of the Data Protection Act 1998 and, consequently, that the exemption provided by section 40(2) of the Act does not apply. Therefore the Commissioner's decision is that the House has breached section 1(1) of the Act in that it incorrectly withheld the requested information on the basis that it was exempt under section 40(2). The steps required for compliance with Part 1 of the Act are specified in the Decision Notice, and in this case the Commissioner requires the House of Commons to release the requested information to the complainant within 30 days of the date of the Decision Notice. The Information Tribunal has ruled on this decision and has dismissed this appeal.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 40 - Complaint Upheld