Recess Elections Act 1975 (2021)
Request
Please may I be provided with the instruments of appointment appointing certain members of the House to exercise the functions of Mr Speaker under section 4 of the Recess Elections Act 1975.
Response
We have interpreted your request as being about the instrument of appointment for the Members who currently exercise the functions in question.
Some information is held by the House of Commons in relation to your request. We hold:
• The Votes and Proceedings for the day on which the relevant Members were appointed to exercise the functions in question. The Votes and Proceedings is publicly available and this information is therefore exempt from disclosure in accordance with section 21(1) and (2)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). This exemption removes from a public authority the obligation to provide access to information which is already in the public domain. This is an absolute exemption and the public interest test does not apply. However, it may help you to know that the Votes and Proceedings for the relevant day, which refers to those appointments, is available on our parliamentary pages.