All MPs' claims may be published

BBC News
14 March 2008

Detailed expenses claims of all MPs dating back to 2004 look set to be published, the BBC has learned.

Most MPs can claim up to £23,000 a year towards the cost of a second home using the additional costs allowance (ACA).

The Commons has been ordered to publish details of 14 MPs' claims under Freedom of Information laws. Sources say all claims may be published by December.
...

The BBC has learned that Commons authorities have been advised there are no legal grounds to appeal against the information tribunal's decision.

It is likely they will be flooded with Freedom of Information requests for details of other MPs' claims and it is understood that senior MPs from all sides believe it would be better to publish all claims by the end of the year.

MPs can claim ACA to cover the costs of staying overnight away from their main home, including rent, hotel bills and mortgage interest payments.
...

Earlier the so-called "John Lewis list", used by Commons clerks as a guide to maximum prices MPs can claim per item, was published after another Freedom of Information request.

It showed MPs were allowed to claim up to £10,000 to install a new kitchen, up to £6,335 for a new bathroom and £750 for a television or stereo.

All MPs' claims may be published - BBC

FOI claims a ministerial scalp

FOI requests by the Belfast Telegraph newspaper have played a key role in the first ministerial resignation from the Northern Ireland devolved government. Ian Paisley Jnr resigned on Monday after months of controversy over his lobbying for wealthy developer Seymour Sweeney.

The paper's Investigations Correspondent, David Gordon, explained the role FOI played:

Even the latest revelations, concerning constituency office rental expenses, had their roots in an FOI request by the Belfast Telegraph. The Assembly was last week finalising an official response to this FOI query, which involved rent claims by each MLA.

Draft details were circulated to members for a final check ahead of the official release...

Eyebrows were raised at the figures for the two Paisleys - almost three times the next highest total. It is understood DUP figures made their own inquiries and discovered a Seymour Sweeney connection.

FOI has played a key role throughout the Sweeney links controversy.

MEP Jim Allister landed a major blow last month with the disclosure from the Northern Ireland Office on lobbying at the 2006 St Andrews talks.

Two of the six items on the Paisley Jnr shopping list considered by Tony Blair were linked to Mr Sweeney.

An FOI disclosure to this newspaper late last year also exposed the full extent of the MLA's lobbying on the Giant's Causeway visitor debate.

Then there was that 2003 letter to the Heritage Lottery Fund protesting about a grant refusal for the Sweeney Causeway scheme.

Written in Ian Paisley Snr's name, but apparently signed by his son, it wrongly claimed that the developer had secured the approval of world heritage body Unesco.

This letter was made public through a Belfast Telegraph FOI request. Ian Paisley Snr angrily attacked the use of the Act by "lazy journalists" .

His thoughts on the legislation are unlikely to have mellowed since then.

See 'Role of FOI legislation in Minister's downfall' and 'Latest link to Sweeney too much for DUP'

FCO releases draft dossier

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has complied with a ruling from the Information Tribunal to release a draft version of the Iraq dossier written by John Williams, the FCO's former director of communications. The document has been published on the FCO's disclosure log and a written ministerial statement is due to be made to Parliament on Monday.

According to the Observer:

"The draft is understood not to contain the infamous claim that Saddam Hussein could launch a strike with 'weapons of mass destruction' within 45 minutes, a claim that was central to the final 'dodgy dossier'.

Yesterday Williams attacked the decision to withhold the document for so long. 'If the government withholds a piece of paper, it immediately makes it significant; it almost doesn't matter what it says,' he argued. 'That's what I said at the time: why are we withholding it?'"

The disclosure is a significant victory for Chris Ames, who first requested its release in 2005.

See also -

John Williams: Dodgy judgements, Comment is Free, The Guardian

Secret draft of Iraq dossier to be revealed, The Observer

Green League 2007

The student campaign network People & Planet have published the first ever green league showing the environmental performance of Britain's universites:

People & Planets' Green League 2007 ranks all British universities - awarding them with a First, 2:1, 2:2, Third, or Fail - based on eight different environmental criteria, both policy and performance related. It incorporates data never before published in the public domain, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, including the percentage of energy purchased from renewable sources, percentage of waste recycled, and CO2 emissions for each institution.

See the Green League 2007.