Is He Big Fat and Hairy?
Extracts from the Reading Evening Post 30th May 2007
READING West MP Martin Salter has made a formal complaint against the council for releasing his letters about a neighbour’s dispute under the Freedom of Information Act.
Mr Salter spoke of the incident in the House without naming the local authority or the parties involved in the dispute. But now he has admitted it was Reading Borough Council and he has made a complaint to the Information Commissioner.
He wrote: “Since your comments are being used by those who refuse to acknowledge that MPs’ correspondence on behalf of constituents is at risk of disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, I am today registering a formal complaint against Reading Borough Council for releasing my correspondence on behalf of my constituents...”
Extracts from a response from the Information Commissioner to whether 'Martin Salter MP has registered a complaint with [the ICO] alleging that a release of information by Reading Borough Council under the Freedom of Information Act contravened the Data Protection Act'. 25th July 2007
You have asked whether we have received a particular complaint from Martin Salter MP. It is our view that whilst details of complaints made by MPs apparently in their official capacity (either as elected members working on behalf of constituents or in their own right for broader political purposes) may well be subject to disclosure under the FOIA... Clearly, Mr Salter may make complaints to this office both in his official capacity and as a private individual.
"...we do not appear to have received any complaints about Reading Borough Council from Mr Salter that were apparently made in his official capacity...
Of course, it could have been a personal complaint and not the formal complaint he told everyone it was, but if so the boundary hopping MP will surely not have a problem telling the press the case number allocated by the Information Commissioner and if he does we'll happily remove this item.
Update 15/08/2007: Confirmation has been received that Martin has made no official complaint to the Information Commissioner. He merely informed them that he intended to complain to Reading Borough Council.