Ministry of Justice

The complainant requested details of a named Permanent Secretary’s specified expenses over a particular time period. The Ministry of Justice (the ‘MOJ’) cited section 21 of FOIA (information accessible to the applicant by other means). During the course of the Commissioner’s investigation, the MOJ clarified that it had originally interpreted the request and the meaning of “expenses” differently, namely as being for expenses claimed by the named individual through the MOJ’s expenses system during the period specified in the request. The Commissioner has commented on this aspect in the ‘Other matters’ part of this notice. At internal review, the MOJ provided the complainant with details of a taxi fare undertaken by the named individual in the specified period. It said that no sustenance expense claims had been made during that time, and that travel booked by its contracted supplier and invoiced directly to the MOJ (as opposed to being claimed as an expense) was out of scope of the request. The MOJ also advised that vendor data does not form part of reporting for expenses. In the course of the Commissioner’s investigation, the MOJ confirmed that it was no longer relying on section 21 of FOIA and that it had provided all the information held. The complainant disputed that he had been provided with all of the requested information. The Commissioner’s decision is, on the balance of probabilities, that the MOJ does not hold any further information than has been provided. No steps are required as a result of this notice.