The House of Commons already publishes the total each MP spends on travel each year, but last year two individuals made a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that the information be broken down into categories of rail, road and air, and rail, road, air and bicycle respectively.
In both cases the House of Commons refused to release the information on the basis that it fell under an exemption of the FOIA, which allows authorities to refuse to reveal information if to do so would breach the principles of the Data Protection Act.
According to the House, it would be unfair to disclose the information in terms of the Data Protection Act (which states that data should be processed “fairly and lawfully”) because MPs had been previously told that only a total expenses figure would be published.
Consequently, said the House, it was exempt from releasing the breakdown under the FOIA.
Information Commissioner Richard Thomas did not agree.
He recognised that in both cases the information requested went beyond that which had been originally notified to MPs, but held:
“that the information requested relates to individuals acting in an official as opposed to a private capacity; and whilst the information sought is personal data, the disclosure of this additional information would not impinge on the personal privacy to which individual MPs are entitled in their private lives.”
In his opinion, the public interest in having information as to how elected officials are using public money outweighs any prejudice that the MPs might suffer as a result – although the House had not produced evidence of any prejudice that might occur.
In addition, he said, the disclosure would differ from the information already disclosed only in that it is a further breakdown of a total annual figure into four categories.
Disclosure of the information would be fair under the Data Protection Act and therefore the FOIA exemption did not apply, he ruled.
The House of Commons has been given 30 days in which to comply.
