Global Citizenship, Scotland's International Development Strategy: EIR release

FOI reference: FOI/17/03001
Date received: 3 December 2017
Date responded: 21 December 2017

Information requested

1. How much money has been spent on Gaelic signage in Scotland since the SNP Government came into office

2. How much money has been spent on Ministerial transport costs in the last five years

3. How much money does Scottish Government give to overseas aid, please give a breakdown of projects.

Response

As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

1. All of the information you have requested in relation to Gaelic Road Signs is available in FOI response FOI-17-01451

Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

2. Information in relation to Ministerial Transport costs is available at the following links:

• Domestic Travel from 2008 - May 2016 can be found in the website archive
• Domestic Travel from May 2016 onwards can be found here (tab 4 of each monthly log)
• Overseas Visits from 2008 - May 2016 can be found in the website archive
• Overseas Visits from May 2016 onwards can be found here (tab 2 of each monthly log)

Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

3. Our 'Global Citizenship: Scotland's International Development Strategy', published in December 2016, provides the framework for Scotland's contribution to the fight against global poverty, inequality and injustice and promotes sustainable development. We are committed to the Beyond Aid agenda, not only within our international development work, but more widely within government and across the public sector.

The 2017/18 Programme for Government therefore sets out our commitment to:

• Maintaining an increased International Development Fund of £10 million a year. This targets support in Malawi, Rwanda, Zambia and Pakistan. We are also maintaining our Small Grants Scheme to help smaller agencies contribute to the UN Global Goals in other developing countries.

• Implementing the £1 million per year Humanitarian Emergency Fund announced in April 2017.

• Continuing to deliver the First Minister's pledge to the Paris climate conference to provide £3 million each year through our climate justice programmes, including our new Climate Challenge Programme Malawi and new Climate Justice Innovation Fund. Between 2012 and 2021 the Climate Justice Fund will provide £21 million to some of the world's poorest people. This funding is in addition to our International Development Fund and is contributing to our development goals. Earlier this year, Scotland signed a letter of co operation with the State of California to provide practical support to the Under 2 Coalition of high ambition states, regions and cities worldwide which now covers over a billion people and a third of the global economy.

A full breakdown of the International Development and Climate Justice projects funded by the Scottish Government can be found on the website, along with details of how our Humanitarian Emergency Fund is assisting some of the world's most vulnerable people.

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