FOI reference - FOI-371
Date - 15 May 2025
Request
Please include the following information for the last four financial years, 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24:
- The total amount claimed in expenses by senior staff annually.
- A breakdown of expenses by category (e.g., travel, accommodation, meals, hospitality, subsistence, training, etc.).
- The total amount claimed by the most expensive individual claimant (job title only) in each of those years.
- If available, a breakdown of expenses for members of the senior leadership team (e.g., Chief Executive, Directors), including job titles and total expenses per individual per year.
Response
I confirm that we hold some of the information you have requested. However, some of the information you have requested is exempt from disclosure.
Information we unable to disclose
Section 22 – Information intended for future publication
With regards to the following points within your request:
“Please include the following information for the last four financial years, 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24:
- The total amount claimed in expenses by senior staff annually.
- If available, a breakdown of expenses for members of the senior leadership team (e.g., Chief Executive, Directors), including job titles and total expenses per individual per year."
I can confirm that we hold the information you have requested for the period 2023-24. However, it is exempt from disclosure under section 22 of the FoIA. This is because the information is intended for publication at a future date.
TPR’s 2023-24 Board expenses will be published on the following page on TPR’s website within the next month: Board expenses | The Pensions Regulator.
Public interest in disclosure
We recognise the public interest in the promotion of transparency, accountability, and the enhancement of understanding of our work.
This is why we already publish certain Board Information which we consider to be in the wider public interest, which can be found on the following page of our website: Board information | The Pensions Regulator. We currently regularly publish Board Meeting Summaries, Board Expenses and Board Documents.
In light of the number of similar requests for information we’ve received, using different timescales, terminology, and interpretations of the legislation, we consider that it is not in the public interest to disclose this information in a piecemeal fashion as that could lead to inadvertent errors and inconsistencies.
Public interest in maintaining the exemption
We consider there would be little or no public interest served in publishing information relating to Board Information with numerous caveats. Furthermore, publishing piecemeal information which is open to different interpretations could lead to giving inaccurate or misleading information which, again, is not in the public interest to do.
Whilst we recognise the benefit of disclosing this type of information, we are of the view that in order to be beneficial the information we publish must be provided in a consistent manner, on a regular basis and in context.
In light of this, and having considered the public interest, our decision is to withhold the information.
Section 21 – Information accessible to applicant by other means
With regards to the following points within your request:
“Please include the following information for the last four financial years, 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24:
- The total amount claimed in expenses by senior staff annually.
- If available, a breakdown of expenses for members of the senior leadership team (e.g., Chief Executive, Directors), including job titles and total expenses per individual per year.”
I can confirm that we hold this information. However, it is exempt from disclosure under Section 21 of the FoIA. This is because the information is accessible to you, as it is already in the public domain.
Details of our 2021-22, 2022-23 Board expenses can be found on the following page of our website: Board expenses | The Pensions Regulator.
Help and Advice
We are awaiting your response to our requests for clarification which we emailed to you on 14 April and 9 May 2025, which state:
“Please could you confirm if the below two points were for all staff at TPR or just senior staff like the other points made in your request.
- A breakdown of expenses by category (e.g., travel, accommodation, meals, hospitality, subsistence, training, etc.).
- The total amount claimed by the most expensive individual claimant (job title only) in each of those years.”
Until we receive clarification of the scope of these points, we are unable to review these aspects of your request further.