Details of inadmissible expenses claimed by Members

Information Standards Freedom of Information Response

Our Ref: FoI 27- 19

15^th November 2019

Freedom of Information Act 2000

I can confirm that the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission holds information relevant to your request of 07 October 2019.  In your request you asked for the following information:

“Under the Freedom of Information Act, I would like to request details of expenses recovered from MLAs after the claims were found to be inadmissible.

For example in 2018-19, DUP MLA Pam Cameron repaid £52.50 of inadmissible Sundry Expenses, but the NI Assembly website does not detail the nature of the expenses claimed or any individual or business which was paid.

I would like to request more information on the nature of the expenses and individuals or firms paid, beyond what is disclosed on the NI Assembly website.

For each MLA and for each inadmissible expense recovered since 2017-18, please disclose the following:

1. The Account Name; Transaction Date; Transaction Amount; Expenditure Description; and Supplier Name.

2. If the NI Assembly website does not detail the specific nature of the expense (for example, only says 'Sundry Expense'), please disclose:

- The specific nature of the expense.

- The name of the individual or business which ultimately provided the service.

3. The amount recovered due to it being inadmissible.

4. The reason why the expense was deemed inadmissible”

The requested information is provided by MLA at Appendices A-O and split between:

• Inadmissible expenditure that was identified in respect of a prior year. The expenditure recovered is paid to the Consolidated Fund and the published MLA expenses in respect of the prior year  are not adjusted to exclude this expenditure as recovery was received in a subsequent year.
• Inadmissible expenditure that was identified and recovered in the same financial year. Details of this expenditure will not appear in the published MLA expenses as there is no net expenditure.

The majority of the inadmissible items relate to sundry expenses. The Assembly Members (Salaries and Expenses) Determination (Northern Ireland) 2016 does not require Members to retain a record of sundry expenses but, following a review by HMRC, Members were asked to submit any receipts that were held for sundry expenses that had been claimed previously. These receipts were reviewed for compliance and payments for any expenses that were found to be inadmissible were recovered.

Where an item was claimed as sundry expenses but could have been claimed under a different category of expenditure under the Determination (e.g. Mobile Phones), the cost was allocated to the correct category of expenditure provided the maximum recoverable expenditure had not been exceeded. If the maximum recoverable expenditure had been exceeded, the surplus amount was recovered.

If you feel that the information we have provided does not meet your request fully, please contact this office as soon as possible.  You have the right to request a formal review by the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission and if you wish to do so, please write to me at the above address.

If after such an internal review you are still unhappy with the response, you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,  Cheshire SK9 5AF who will undertake an independent review.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me.  Please remember to quote the reference number above.

Yours sincerely

INFORMATION STANDARDS

APPENDICES A-O

• Appendix A
• Appendix B
• Appendix C
• Appendix D
• Appendix E
• Appendix F
• Appendix G
• Appendix H
• Appendix I
• Appendix J
• Appendix K
• Appendix L
• Appendix M
• Appendix N
• Appendix O

Appendix A

FOI 27/19 - Inadmissible Expenses Recoveries

The following expenses related to prior years and the recovery was not shown in the published figures.

The following expenses were recovered in the financial year in which they were paid, so were included in the published figures

Appendix B

FOI 27/19 - Inadmissible Expenses Recoveries

The following expenses related to prior years and the recovery was not shown in the published figures.

Appendix C

FOI 27/19 - Inadmissible Expenses Recoveries

The following expenses related to prior years and the recovery was not shown in the published figures.

The following expenses were recovered in the financial year in which they were paid, so were included in the published figures

Appendix D

FOI 27/19 - Inadmissible Expenses Recoveries

The following expenses related to prior years and the recovery was not shown in the published figures.

The following expenses were recovered in the financial year in which they were paid, so were included in the published figures

Appendix E

FOI 27/19 - Inadmissible Expenses Recoveries

The following expenses related to prior years and the recovery was not shown in the published figures.

Appendix F

FOI 27/19 - Inadmissible Expenses Recoveries

The following expenses related to prior years and the recovery was not shown in the published figures.

Appendix G

FOI 27/19 - Inadmissible Expenses Recoveries

The following expenses related to prior years and the recovery was not shown in the published figures.

Appendix H

FOI 27/19 - Inadmissible Expenses Recoveries

The following expenses related to prior years and the recovery was not shown in the published figures.

Appendix I

FOI 27/19 - Inadmissible Expenses Recoveries

The following expenses related to prior years and the recovery was not shown in the published figures.

The following expenses were recovered in the financial year in which they were paid, so were included in the published figures

Appendix J

FOI 27/19 - Inadmissible Expenses Recoveries

The following expenses related to prior years and the recovery was not shown in the published figures.

The following expenses were recovered in the financial year in which they were paid, so were included in the published figures

Appendix K

FOI 27/19 - Inadmissible Expenses Recoveries

The following expenses related to prior years and the recovery was not shown in the published figures.

The following expenses were recovered in the financial year in which they were paid, so were included in the published figures

Appendix L

FOI 27/19 - Inadmissible Expenses Recoveries

The following expenses related to prior years and the recovery was not shown in the published figures.

Appendix M

FOI 27/19 - Inadmissible Expenses Recoveries

The following expenses related to prior years and the recovery was not shown in the published figures.

Appendix N

FOI 27/19 - Inadmissible Expenses Recoveries

The following expenses were recovered in the financial year in which they were paid, so were included in the published figures

Appendix O

FOI 27/19 - Inadmissible Expenses Recoveries

The following expenses related to prior years and the recovery was not shown in the published figures.

The following expenses were recovered in the financial year in which they were paid, so were included in the published figures