FOI 52-26: A request for information relating to Timothy Gaston MLA expenses claims
Information Standards Freedom of Information Response
Our ref: FOI 52-26
19 August 2026
Freedom of Information Act 2000
I am writing to confirm that the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission (Assembly Commission) has processed your request dated 21 July 2026 in line with the Freedom of Information Act 2000. In your request, you asked:
“…Please provide copies of any invoices, receipts, purchase orders, claims, reimbursement records, payment records, or other documents held by the Northern Ireland Assembly relating to the purchase of laptops, tablet computers (including iPads), or similar mobile computing devices for or by Timothy Gaston MLA during the period from 1 July 2024 to the date this request is processed.
For each device purchased, please provide:
• A copy of the invoice or receipt.
• The date of purchase.
• The make and model of the device.
• The supplier from whom the device was purchased.
• The amount paid.
• Details of whether the purchase was made directly by the Assembly or reimbursed through an expenses or allowance scheme....”
Our response
Under Standing Order 76 (2), the Speaker has made arrangements for the annual publication of details of sums paid by the Assembly to its current and former Members. This includes information on salaries, allowances and other expenditure reimbursed to or recovered by Members.
Members may recover costs in accordance with the Assembly Members (Office and Staffing Costs and Allowances) Determination (Northern Ireland) 2025 (the 2025 Determination). The eligibility and quantum of what can be recovered are set out in the 2025 Determination, with further guidance issued in the Administrative Guide.
To support transparency in relation to costs recovered under the 2025 Determination, all Members’ costs are itemised and published quarterly on the Northern Ireland Assembly’s website, and can be accessed by following the links under the heading Members' Salaries and Expenses on the relevant page of the Assembly website. This includes the amount paid, expense type, transaction date and the name of the supplier being paid. Where a Member's name is shown in the supplier field, this indicates that the Member initially met the cost and was subsequently reimbursed. The actual supplier’s name is captured in the description.
Whilst information from the invoice is available through the Assembly’s published expenditure records, the make and model of devices purchased would not ordinarily be included. This information is therefore provided below:
• Laptop – Lenovo Thinkpad E14.
• Tablet – Apple iPad 9th Gen 256gb cellular.
This provides the information sought in your request. The FOIA confers a right to information, not to copies of documents, and the receipts or invoices do not contain any material information not already published by the Assembly Commission.
Further Information
You may request an internal review of this decision by the Assembly Commission. If you wish to request such a review, please write to me at the above address. If, after that review, you are dissatisfied with the way in which the Assembly Commission has handled your request for information, you may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Your request for information and our response may be published in the disclosure log maintained by the Assembly Commission under a publication scheme agreed with the ICO. The request and our response will be anonymised.
Yours sincerely,
INFORMATION STANDARDS
