Publish MPs' Expenses Receipts, Says Court

MPs' receipts and invoices for expenses claims must be published in full, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

The body which oversees politicians' claims had argued a summary of the details was enough and there was "insufficient public benefit" to release copies of receipts and invoices.

However, appeal judges told the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), which was set up in 2009 to restore the public faith in the system after the expenses scandal, that all receipts and invoices should be published in full.

The case hinges around a 2010 request by the Sunday Telegraph journalist Ben Leapman to see three specific receipts submitted by MPs to support expenses claims.

After his Freedom of Information request was denied, Leapman, who has subsequently been convicted for downloading child sex abuse images and jailed for rape, appealed to the Information Commissioner, Graham Smith.

Mr Smith concluded receipts should be published because they could contain additional text, handwritten comments and logos that could help establish veracity.

He said: "The recorded information contained within the receipts/invoices can inform the observer about the legitimacy of the expenses claims."

However, Ipsa has appealed in the courts, where today it lost its latest case against the Telegraph newspaper group.

Lord Justice Richards said the order that copies of the original documents should be released would be put on hold while Ipsa decided whether it would appeal to the Supreme Court.

He said although the appeal was concerned with three specific invoices or receipts "it is a test case and has important implications for Ipsa and, no doubt, for other public authorities".

Following the ruling, an Ipsa spokesman said: "We need to study the judgment carefully.

"The court made clear this is an important test case with implications not just for Ipsa but for all other public bodies.

"We were right to test the point of law through an appeal to see whether images of receipts add anything additional to all the information about MPs' expenditure that we already release.

"We remain completely committed to openness and transparency and already publish a detailed breakdown of every claim made by every MP."