MP gets the law wrong

MPs cannot get round the Freedom of Information Act by outsourcing their paperwork, the law firm Clifford Chance pointed out today.

It noted that Sir Stuart Bell, the Labour member of the House of Commons Commission, had said that MPs' receipts would not be released for public inspection under FOI when processing was moved to an external body.

“Receipts would be available under FOI in the unit [when it is part of the Commons] but when they go to an outside unit they would not,” the MP said.

But that is incorrect, according to Clifford Chance.

Michael Smyth, the firm's head of public policy, said: "The Act applies not just to information held by a public authority, but also to information held on behalf of that authority.

"The House of Commons cannot simply get around the Act by outsourcing expenses administration to someone else. Otherwise, every public authority in the country could send their records out to a third party and refuse all requests made under the Act.

"Even if future expenses information is held by a private sector company, it would still be held on behalf of the Commons and a request for it would be able to be made to the Commons in the usual way."

Seems pretty obvious to me. Perhaps MPs should have spent some of their expenses on legal advice.

Posted at May 11, 2009 01:55 PM